Witches and Wizards and Stones, Oh My!
by MoonlightFox143
Summary: She's the Bane of McGonagall's existence, She's Harry's best friend, The Weasley twins call her their princess, and she's one of the only people who can make Mad-Eye laugh. She's Riley Langley, and this is her story. AU Book 1 of Riley Langley and Her Seven Year Adventure Series BEING REVISED
1. Prologue and Chapter 1 Introductions

**_Hello! Okay so to those who haven't read this story yet... TADA! My first fanfiction! Full of laughter and whatnot.  
><em>**

**EDIT; ****1/29/2012**

**Right, so I'm back and now there shouldn't as many grammar mistakes as before. I know I said I wouldn't edit this story again, but I lied. I'm writing this story, not just for the fun of it but to improve my writing skills and I think this has helped a lot. So that's why I keep editing it. I really do hope this will be the last time because we're getting close to the end of the first book. (Happy Dance!) So anyways, thank you guys for being so patient with me, and I really hope you enjoy my story because as cheesy as this sounds, it really does make my day to hear that you guys enjoyed my story...**

**REVISED: 11/7/2013**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any movie or song I make reference to... and I make A LOT... so in fact they should pay me I mean I'm advertising there stuff right? Well I guess our deal is they don't ask me to pay so I won't ask them... works out well that way. ;P**

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><p><em>Wizards and Witches and Stones oh my!<em>

_Prologue  
><em>

It was a beautiful spring afternoon. The warm sunlight was shining down on the recently rained on town. Men and women were bustling about getting a few things from the little local grocery store or tending to their gardens while the ground was still moist. The park in the middle of the town was filled with children and their parents, laughing and smiling.

It was just another day, in another seemingly average town, but by no means was this town average.

In fact, this town was quite the opposite, because this was a town full of witches and wizards. Of course they had their fair share of muggles (non-magical people), but for the most part, it was just people with magic. They carried wands, had moving pictures, chess sets that talked and yes, they even rode brooms.

This town was usually a rather cheery and peaceful place, but before the day was through, this peaceful and cheery town would become a scarred town.

In order for you, my dear readers, to understand, though, we must pause and have a small history lesson.

You see, for eleven or so years a war had been waging in the shadows, causing great damage and devastating loss.

Then one night, the war came to an abrupt and somewhat confusing end. The man, who started this mass devastation, Lord Voldemort or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to those afraid of him, attacked the small home of the Potter family. No one was quite sure what happened that night, (well, except for maybe Dumbledore, but since he's not sharing...) but somehow, one little boy stopped a man thought to be unstoppable. And even now, seven months later, people were still celebrating.

Despite what the populace would like to think though, the war was not quite over yet. Voldemort had many followers and those followers did not take losing their leader easily. Thus Aurors were still hunting down those followers that called themselves Death Eaters. It was not unusual for a small group of Death Eaters to attack a mostly wizarding village like this one.

This brings us back to the town we were talking about earlier.

Two year old Riley Langley and her mother Eliza were enjoying a lovely day at the park playing on the swings and running around. They decided, after a few games of tag, to get some ice cream from the vendor on the corner. It was as they were enjoying there extra chocolate ice cream, that Eliza heard it.

Now, Eliza herself, being a former Order of the Phoenix member, had been in many duels and had seen many battles. Thus, it was understandable why she immediately recognized the screams of fear and flashes of green light coming from the park they had just left.

Death Eaters were attacking.

Eliza quickly gathered up Riley and their things, hoping to get away before the Death Eaters saw them. Maybe then he could get a message to the Aurors and get Riley to safety. Unfortunately, plans never seem to work the way you want them to and before Eliza knew it, they were surrounded.

Eliza knew she had no chance of surviving this fight, there were just too many, but Riley still had a chance. It was a dangerous plan, but the only one she could think of at that moment.

See, Riley was born a natural animangus, meaning she had been able to turn into a fox since birth. Of course, she couldn't fully control it yet, and it took a lot of energy out of her. The last time Riley had accidentally changed while having a fit, she slept for a whole day and a half after changing back.

Eliza had been told by a healer, that the change put to much stress on the little girl and sucked her magical core dry, which could lead to death. It was dangerous, but it was Eliza's last hope at getting Riley out of there safely.

So, whispering into her ear, Eliza told Riley to try really, really hard to turn into a fox and run as fast as she could to their home, a few blocks away.

Riley, not really knowing what was going on, did as her mother told her. She turned into a tiny red fox and ran home as fast as her little legs could carry her, only to collapse from exhaustion when she got there. It wasn't for another two days, when she awoke, that she was told she would never again get to see her mother.

~{ }~

Two years later, most Death Eaters had been caught. Though there were still quite a few that had weaseled there way out of jail, or had not been caught at all.

Isaac Langley was a good man. He was always rather quite and shy but underneath that he had always ached for an adventure. That was why he decided to work for the Department of Mysteries after he left school.

He had just started to make a name for himself among his coworkers, when he was placed on a project with Nicholas Flamel. That project caught the attention of a couple of greedy "Ex-Death Eaters", who came to Isaac with a not-so-friendly request to hand it over. He, of course, refused.

So, on November 10th of 1984, Aurors showed up at the home of one Isaac Langley and his step daughter, Riley Langley, to find the Dark Mark over their house. Inside they found Isaac Langley dead and five year old Riley staring at the body in shock.

~{ }~

The traumatized Riley then went to live with her godfather, Remus Lupin. Soon after that, a law was passed that made it impossible for a werewolf, like Remus, to take care of a child. So Riley was once again moved, this time to live with a distant cousin.

And it is just a few years later that this tale really begins...

~{ }~

_Chapter One; Introductions and Stuck up Boys_

Riley Langley was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast and humming _Eat It_ by _Weird Al_ under her breath. She wasn't quite sure _how_ she got the song in her head, but for some odd reason, it had been repeating over and over since she'd woken up. It didn't help that she couldn't remember all the words either.

Riley was startled out of her thoughts by an irritated pecking noise at the window. Don't ask her how she could tell it was irritated, because she wouldn't be able to tell you. _It must be just one of those sixth sense things,_ She mused to herself as she jumped to her feet and opened the window wide.

She paused for a moment to enjoy the smell of the woods after it rained. Then turned and took the letter from the owl that had started to hoot in annoyance. After being relieved of the letter, it immediately took off right back out the window.

"Fine!" Riley yelled after it, "Leave! But you could have had toast!"

After sticking her tongue out at the retreating form in the sky, she looked at the thick envelope in her hands and gasped. On the front of the envelope, addressed in emerald-green ink was:

_Ms. R. Langley,_

_Cottage in the woods,_

_Wood Dalling_

Riley smiled huge and opened it quickly, her hands shaking with excitement. She had been waiting for this letter for _years_. She pulled the letter out and read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL _of _WITCHCRAFT _and _WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards) _

Dear Miss Langley,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31st.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

_Deputy Headmistress_

Riley looked down the list of books and equipment, her excitement growing with every word. She looked up when her Aunt Andromeda ("I'm actually your second cousin, Riley." "Well, whatever, who actually pays attention to that stuff anyway?") walked into the room carrying a basket of laundry to be washed.

"What have you got there?" She asked Riley, seeing the big grin on her face.

"I finally got my Hogwarts letter!" Riley squealed, jumping up and down excitedly.

Andromeda laughed at her niece's excitement, as she walked into the small laundry room next to the kitchen, Riley on her heels.

"Aunt Andy, can we go to Diagon Alley today? Please?" Riley asked giving her aunt her best puppy-dog face.

Andromeda smiled warmly, "How about we have Dora come over to celebrate tonight and we go tomorrow?"

Riley beamed, "All right! I'll send her a letter. I've got to send one to Uncle Mad-eye and Moony, too."

Riley was already halfway across the kitchen by the time she finished her sentence. Andromeda watched, as Riley disappeared up the stairs to her room, singing _Eat It_ at the top of her lungs. (Getting half of the words wrong, mind you, since she _still_ couldn't remember them all.)

Andromeda smiled. It seemed like just yesterday that Riley was eight years old, telling anyone who would listen, that she was going to become the greatest witch of all time and stop the evil ministry people from taking her Moony away from her. In the four years since Riley had come to live there, Andromeda and Ted Tonks had come to love her like their own and though Riley was almost afraid to say so, they knew she loved them as well.

~{ }~

Riley was buzzing with excitement the rest of the day; she couldn't wait to go to Hogwarts. Ever since she was little, she would hear such amazing stories from everyone. Especially from Moony; she would swear up and down that it was _his_ fault she was a prankster, and surprisingly (or not), some people believed her. She couldn't wait to have some amazing adventures of her own that she could tell her kids about one day.

When dinner time rolled around, Tonks showed up cheerful as ever. She was Andromeda and Ted's only daughter and had left Hogwarts just that past June. Now, she was studying under Alastor Moody (Riley's maternal uncle) to become an Auror. She was horribly clumsy, but what she lacked in stealth, she made up for in disguise. She was a metamorphmangus, meaning she could change the way she looked to almost anything she wanted.

She, like Riley, was also a big troublemaker. Together they got into _lots_ of trouble, _all_ the time. So it didn't come as much of a surprise when the two started a mass food fight with desert— much to the disapproval of Andromeda.

Later, as Riley and Tonks cleaned up the mess they made (Andromeda was scary). Riley listened to everyone talk about their days at Hogwarts and all the great times they had. The only thing that bugged her, was no matter how she asked it, no one would tell Riley how they were sorted into the different houses.

After a long night of talking and cleaning (Andromeda was proud to say she wouldn't have to worry about another food fight for a long time), Riley flopped on her bed and instantly fell asleep, dreaming of what was to come at Hogwarts.

~{ }~

The next morning Riley got up early (crazier things have happened) and rushed to get ready. She was excited about going to Diagon Alley, having only been there a couple of times. She put on a pair of jeans, a Beatles t-shirt and pulled her ever wild and wavy hair up in a messy ponytail.

Since her step-dad and her uncle Ted were muggleborns, she grew up with both muggle and wizard things, but she always preferred jeans and t-shirts to robes. They were much more comfortable to her.

Riley rushed down the stairs and into the kitchen, running right into her chair. She picked up the chair, without the least bit of embarrassment, bowed to the laughing Andromeda and said with a straight face; "thank you, thank you, I do my best."

When they got to the Leaky Cauldron (she absolutely hated floo powder), Riley could hardly contain her excitement. No matter how many times she saw it, Riley couldn't help but gasp at how amazing Diagon Alley looked; People bustling about from shop to shop, sometimes stopping to say hello to a friend. So many things and colors to look at, you wish you had more than one set of eyes.

They spent the whole day shopping. Riley dragged her aunt into the joke shop and tried to buy everything she could get her hands on. Until Andromeda had to pick Riley up and throw her over her shoulder (in a very unladylike manner, which is unheard of for Andromeda) and take a pouting Riley outside to finish getting the stuff on the list.

After about an hour, they only had two more things to get; Riley's wand and her robes. Riley decided to get her robes first, since getting a wand could take ages. As they were headed towards Madam Malkins, Andromeda left to get a couple flowers for her garden and told Riley to wait at the robe shop for her.

Riley, not really caring one way or another, skipped off to the shop by herself. When she got there, she noticed there were already two boys getting fitted. The first boy had raven black hair that looked like it would never be tamed, startling green eyes and round glasses. He looked kind of lost; like he wasn't even sure he should be there.

The second boy had slicked back, pale blonde hair and steel gray eyes. He had an arrogant air about him that made Riley wary, but she decided it was only fair to get to know him before calling him arrogant.

Breaking from her thoughts, Riley walked over to Madam Malkins assistant who was beckoning her over to stand on a stool next to the black haired boy.

"Hello," Blondie said politely, "Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes."

"Yep."

Glasses and Riley said at the same time; Riley popping the P.

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said Blondie. He had a bored, drawling voice that grated on Riley's nerves, "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

_Well, there's that arrogance._ Riley thought with a grimace.

"Have either of you got your own brooms?" Blondie asked them.

"No," Glasses said before looking at Riley.

"No, my godfather always says that I'm enough of a klutz on the ground and he didn't even want to imagine me on a broom," Riley replied grinning at Glasses, who smiled back shyly.

"Oh," Blondie said with distaste on his face. He turned back to Glasses, "Play Quidditch at all?"

"No," Glasses said again looking slightly confused.

_Must be a muggleborn_, Riley thought sadly. Anyone who didn't know about one of the greatest games ever was very unlucky in Riley's opinion.

"I do," Blondie said not waiting for Riley's answer, "Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"

"No," Glasses said looking lost. Riley felt bad and decided to help a bit.

"No one really knows what house they'll be in till we get there. I've thought about it a lot and I'm still not sure. I mean I don't think I would ever be placed in Ravenclaw; I've never been one for studying. Moony says I'm loyal enough for Hufflepuff; but I don't really fancy being a bumble bee. My parents and Moony were Gryffindors, so I might end up there as well. Who knows?" Riley shrugged.

Blondie looked at her with even more disgust, but still said to Glasses;

"I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been."

Riley snorted catching the attention of both boys. It was a well known fact that Gryffindors and Slytherins hated each other and for all her thoughts on what house she would be in, she grew up with the Gryffindor prejudice.

"Figures you would, all the right makings: spoiled, douchey, and acts like you've got a stick shoved so far up your ar – ouch!" she was cut off by the assistant poking her with a needle. She couldn't help it; Moony always said she was missing the filter between her mind and her mouth.

Glasses was chuckling and Blondie was glaring.

"I say, look at that man!" Blondie exclaimed suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Riley looked up and saw a giant of a man grinning at Glasses and pointing at two large ice creams. Riley had to give it to the kid; he sure knew how to change a subject.

"That's Hagrid," Glasses seemed pleased he knew something Blondie did not, "He works at Hogwarts."

"Oh," said Blondie, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"

"He's the gamekeeper," Riley corrected. Tonks had told her about the kindly man who had a love for animals that could rival Riley's.

"Yes, exactly. I heard he's sort of _savage_- lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."

"I think he's brilliant," Glasses said coldly.

"_Do_ you?" Blondie sneered, "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"

"They're dead," Glasses replied shortly.

"Not like it's any of your business anyway," Riley snapped. The boy was starting to really annoy her. Luckily, before Riley could throw a stink pellet at him, (oh, yes. She would've gotten away with it, too. Many skills are gained when your godfather is a master prankster) the assistant finished with her and Madam Malkin finished with Glasses. They both hopped off the footstools.

"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said Blondie to Glasses while sneering slightly in Riley's direction.

They walked out the door; chatting about the shops they had been to, when the giant gamekeeper came over and introduced himself as Rubeus Hagrid.

Riley smiled at him and stuck out her hand, "I'm Riley Langley, nice to properly meet you."

They shook hands, or well, Riley shook his hand, while Hagrid shook her arm.

Then she turned to Harry and held out her hand again.

"Sorry, but I don't think I ever learned your name."

"I'm Harry, Harry Potter," he replied shaking her hand, hoping she didn't react like the people in the Leaky Cauldron did. He watched as she blinked once. Twice. Three times, then broke into a wide smile.

"Are you really? Oh that's so cool! You're the first celebrity I've ever met. Man, Tonks is going to be so jealous," She talked so fast Harry had a hard time understanding her. Then suddenly, she froze, her face splitting into the biggest grin Harry had ever seen. Then she started jumping around and yelling, "YES! I win the bet! Ha-haa! Two weeks free of chores for me! Yes!"

Harry and Hagrid just watched her with varying amounts of amusement and confusion. Harry was starting to wonder if all wizards were crazy, or if he was just unlucky (or maybe lucky) enough to keep finding the ones that were.

~{ }~

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><p><strong>Well, there it is. The updated Chapter one.<br>**

**Please don't forget to review. :)**


	2. Chapter 2 Train Ride, Among Other Things

_**Hello all! Welcome to chapter two, enjoy. :)**_

**EDIT: 1/29/2012**

**Yeah, grammar should be much better now. I also realize that in some (if not all) of my A/N's I spelt grammar wrong. Ironic seeing as it was right after I had attempted to edit it the first time. ;P**

**REVISED: 11/7/2013**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any song, book, movie, or show I make reference too...**_

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><p><em>Chapter Two: The Train Ride… Among Other Things…<em>

By the time Andromeda had shown up at Madam Malkins, Riley had already said goodbye to Harry and Hagrid, but she was still grinning about winning the bet.

You see, when she and Tonks were younger, they had a fight over who would become famous first. The fight went on for days, until Ted told them that most famous people had famous friends. So in order to stop the bickering, he told them to make a bet; the first one to meet someone really famous, won. The loser had to do all of the winner's chores for two weeks.

Of course, Tonks had almost won when she had gone to Hogwarts because of Dumbledore, but Ted said it didn't count because she never actually met the man face to face. Riley was sure she won this time, though. I mean, you couldn't get much more famous then _the_ Harry Potter.

Riley was still grinning like a loon as she told Andromeda all about her encounter with the unpleasant boy and Harry Potter. Andromeda then told her that she was actually related to that unpleasant boy. Riley then replied that it shouldn't count since it was such a distant relation.

"Well," Riley said with a mischievous grin, "I'm glad I never had to meet him before, because I don't think I could resist getting Uncle Mad-eye to turn him into a ferret. There's not much difference in looks _really,_ I doubt his mother would notice. _Although_, ferrets _are_ rather cute, so maybe she would notice."

"_Riley!_" Andromeda scolded while fighting back laughter.

"What? I'm only stating the truth," Riley said innocently. Andromeda just sighed and shook her head. She was far to used to the girls antics by now.

They finally found there way into a shabby little shop with a window display consisting of a single wand resting on a faded purple cushion. Inside, the walls were lined floor to ceiling with thousands of narrow boxes. Riley walked up to the desk and hit the little bell sitting there.

"Hello?" She called, ignoring the creepy feeling she was getting.

"Welcome," came a soft voice from behind her, making her jump. She turned quickly and came face to face with the ever so creepy Ollivander, "Looking for a wand? What's your name?"

Riley, more than a little creeped out by now, shook off the feeling and smiled. _When in doubt, best to be polite. _Riley thought. _The polite ones usually don't get eaten by the creepy guys in the stories, right?_

"Yes, hello. I'm Riley Langley."

"Ah… yes… hm…" he stared at her for awhile, as if contemplating something then abruptly started to measure her.

While the measuring tape did its thing by itself ("it's like magic"), the Creepy Man, as Riley so dubbed him, started to search his shelves. He pulled out wand after wand, box after box. It felt like she had been there for hours, as the pile of discarded wands just grew larger, (She was afraid the pile would fall over, and she would be crushed and never even get the chance to go to Hogwarts) until finally…

As soon as she took the wand, she felt warmth spread from her fingers to her toes. She gave it a simple swish and watched as bubbles shaped like rubber ducks flew from the tip.

Creepy Man smiled, "11 inches, cherry wood with a boggart hair core."

"Wait... What?" Riley asked dumbfounded. She had read lots of books on dark creatures, while trying to find some way to help Moony on the full moon and had run across a boggart. They were suppose to be shape shifters that, when confronted, turned into what you feared most… _so how did he get a hair?_ She suddenly had a vision of Creepy Man, fist raised, shouting at the sky, over a broken wand. Then quickly grabbing it and crying out in triumph, as he stole the hair from the middle of the broken wand.

Riley shook her head, sometimes she worried even herself.

"Yes… boggart hair cores are very rare… they do well with invisibility charms."

Riley just stared at him for a bit, and then burst out laughing; it was just like her to get such a weird wand.

After she paid for her wand (still laughing, mind you), they were finally ready to go. She smiled brightly at everyone she passed as she continued to skip down the street. _Only one more month and I will finally be at Hogwarts! _Riley thought with so much excitement she thought she would burst.

When they got home Riley rushed to her room and immediately started to immerse herself in her school books. She may not like studying, but she knew in order to be a great prankster she had to know her stuff. And with that thought in mind, she started her search for good jinxes, hexes and charms.

~( )~

The next month seemed to drag for Riley, whose excitement grew more every day. It got to the point where Andromeda was contemplating slipping her something just to calm her down a bit.

Finally the day came; September first was here!

Riley got up extra early that day in all her excitement. If Andromeda had thought she was excited before, it was nothing compared to this, she practically oozed excitement. Riley danced around her room as she got dressed in her usual jeans and t-shirt, and hummed 'Happy Birthday' to herself.

She ran downstairs (only tripping once) and had a breakfast of double chocolate brownies, since she wouldn't get to have cake later. Then she turned to her little pile of presents and started to open them. The first present was a book on 'Best Jinxes and Hexes of the Century' from Moony. Riley grinned, knowing Andromeda was not going to be happy with him for that. Next was a lock pick set from Tonks with a note that said "wizards never expect the muggle approach". Riley felt bad for her family, because she knew they were going to be in big trouble with Andromeda later. The last gift was a Sneak-a-Scope from Mad-eye. Once she finished opening them, Riley took her presents upstairs and shoved them in her trunk.

While trying to haul her trunk out of her room, Riley paused as she spotted the picture of her mum and step-dad. In the picture, they were dancing in a park laughing and smiling.

Riley never thought she looked much like her mother. Where her mum's eyes were bright blue like the sky, Riley's were a stormy blue/gray. The only thing she shared with her mother was her deep red hair and freckles. She always just assumed she looked more like her real dad, with her sharper features that had an almost haughty look, and her pale skin. Tonks always joked that she was a hardcore ginger. She couldn't be sure about her dad, though, because no one would even show her a picture of her biological father.

She used to wonder if that was because they didn't know who he was, but later on, when she kept asking them about him, Andromeda finally budged and told her his name and that he was in prison. That was it. That was all she knew about him, and all he really was to her; a faceless name.

She didn't really mind, though. She had a wonderful step-dad that had loved her like his own, and she had loved him like a real father. After he died, Remus took that place. She didn't need the faceless name to be her father, because she already had two. At least... that's what she told herself.

Riley sighed and put the picture back down. Grabbing her trunk again; she rushed down the stairs. Well, she went as fast as she could while dragging along a trunk that weighed more then she did. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, without being crushed by the trunk, she gasped. Sitting in a cage in her Aunts arms was the most gorgeous black owl she had ever seen, with white around its face, making it look like it was wearing a black mask. Though looking back, she realized she may have just been biased as it _was_ her owl.

Andromeda smiled and handed her the cage, "Happy birthday, Love."

Riley hugged Andromeda tightly and thanked her profusely. It was already turning out to be an amazing birthday.

~{ }~

When they got to King Cross Station, Riley was so excited she was practically bouncing with every step. She pushed her trolley onto platform 9 ¾ alone. Andromeda had gotten an urgent call from Ted and had to go. Riley was so distracted by her anticipation, that she wasn't even fazed by the fact that she was walking through a not-so-solid wall. Walking through the crowd, Riley grinned brightly. The scarlet train was awesome!

She quickly pushed her trolley towards the train and tried to lift her trunk up the stairs with no success. You would have figured that with her clothes being so small it wouldn't weigh that much, but no. Defeated, she looked around for someone to help, but didn't recognize anyone. Suddenly kids starting running past her onto the train and Riley finally realized the train was getting ready to leave.

"Crap!" she cried, kicking her trunk and jostling her owl making him hoot angrily.

"Need help?" A tall red headed boy asked noticing her predicament.

"Yes, please," Riley sighed in relief as the boy and what seemed to be his twin helped bring her stuff onto the train. As they turned to wave out the window, she attempted to calm her owl, whose cage had been knocked over in the rush to get on the train.

"Fine!" She snapped giving up, "Be like that! It's not my fault that people don't look where they're going."

"You know, usually when a person starts having conversations with their animals, it means they're on their way towards insanity," Someone said behind her, making her jump. She spun around and saw the boys who had helped her with her trunk watching her with amusement.

"Whoever said I wasn't already insane?" She quipped, making them laugh. The boys were both tall and gangly, had flaming red hair and blue eyes that shined with mischief, they kind of reminded Riley of Thing One and Thing Two from Cat in the Hat.

Thing One stuck out his hand, "I'm Fred and this much less handsome twin is George."

Riley laughed as George cried out in indignation and shook both their hands.

"I'm Riley, thanks for helping me with my trunk."

They smiled, "We always help a damsel in distress," George replied giving a slight bow.

"Ah, I see," She nodded, "Well then, I guess that makes you my knights in shining armor."

"Well, we must be off!" Fred said taking Riley's hand as George took the other, "Good day, my lady, may we meet again," They both bowed low kissing her hand. She stuck her nose in the air with a slight smile to show she was joking and said in a haughty voice.

"Off with you then."

They all laughed before setting off on their separate ways. Riley roamed down the train, looking for an empty or at least mostly empty compartment. It seemed like forever before she saw one with only two boys in it and opened the door.

"Mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full," she asked then smiled when she recognized one of them, "Oh! Hello, Harry! How are you?"

The boys looked up at her and Harry smiled. He seemed happy that someone he sort of knew was here. He greeted Riley then helped her with her trunk and just as they sat back down, the compartment door slid open again.

"Hey Ron," Thing One and Two were back, "Listen, we're going down the middle of the train— Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."

"Right," The boy named Ron mumbled.

"Harry," George said, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley, and this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then," And with a last bow and "milady" to Riley they left. Riley just laughed as the boys looked at her confused.

"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out, after awhile.

Riley snorted at his lack of manners, though she honestly didn't have much room to talk, as Harry nodded.

"Oh – well I thought it might be one of Fred and Georges joke's," said Ron, "And have you really got – you know…" he pointed at Harry's forehead.

Riley rolled her eyes. Why did everyone act like that? It's just a scar. I mean sure she had heard his story but she wasn't going to hero worship him, he probably didn't even remember it anyway. He was only a year old at the time for goodness sake.

Riley remembered when Remus had told her the story when she was little. He never told it much because for some reason it made him really sad. When he did, though, he would always tell her that if she ever met Harry, not to make a big deal about it. Because who wanted to be reminded of the night their parents died all the time? She knew for a fact, that she would hate that.

Harry pulled back his bangs to show the lightning bolt scar. Ron stared. Riley didn't even glance at it; instead she started to try to calm her owl again. She gave up a few seconds later.

"What about you?" Harry asked, making Riley jump.

"What?" She hadn't been paying attention to his and Ron's conversation.

"Are all your family wizards as well?"

"No, I'm a half-blood. My dad was a pure-blood and my mum was a half-blood," She answered tilting her head thoughtfully, "I think her mum was a muggle. So I guess I'm a ¾ blood."

"What about your aunt? Is she a witch?" Harry continued, seeming genuinely interested.

"Oh, yeah," Riley nodded, "She's a witch. She's not my aunt, though; she's like my second cousin or something. I just call her that because it's easier. I've been living with her since the ministry decided on some stupid laws that made it so my godfather couldn't take care of me anymore."

_Whoops! Said too much again. I really need to work on that._ Riley thought warily.

"Oh," Harry looked confused but sympathetic. Before he could ask any more questions, Ron asked _him_ one.

Riley decided she'd said too much already. So she got out a sketchpad and started to draw the boys laughing. She wasn't the best at drawing, but it was a good for passing time. She was so into her drawing that she didn't even notice the lunch trolley or the boy looking for his toad or the bossy girl who was helping look for the missing toad.

When she finally did look up from her sketch, it was starting to get late. Riley mostly just sat and listened as Ron told Harry about the break in at Gringotts and all about Quidditch and the different teams, only adding a comment here or there. It was dark outside, when the door slid open and in walked Blondie from Diagon Alley and a couple of goons.

"Is it true?" Blondie asked, "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you is it?"

"Yes," Harry said watching the goons wearily. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely bully like. Standing on either side of Blondie, they looked like bodyguards.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said Blondie carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking, "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Riley snorted; thinking of the tale's that Andromeda had told Riley about her nephew. Ron gave a slight cough trying to hide a snigger. Malfoy turned on them.

"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children then they can afford," Ron looked livid as Malfoy turned back to Harry, apparently assuming Riley was a Weasley, "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it, "I think I can tell who the 'wrong sort' are for myself, thanks," he said coolly.

Malfoy went pink.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly, "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around riffraff like the Weasleys, and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."

That was it. It was one thing, to judge people rudely, but making a dig about someone's deceased parents was uncalled for. Riley stood up at the same time Ron and Harry did, but with one fluid movement, she slapped Malfoy across the face. Everyone looked at her stunned, none more so then Malfoy.

"Get out," She ordered in a deadly voice. When they didn't move she growled, "Now!"

Deciding he didn't want to be slapped again, Malfoy and his bodyguards left quickly. Riley turned to the boys then. Both of whom, were looking at her with something akin to respect. She smiled at them and gave them high fives as they burst into laughter.

Just then, the door opened once more and Riley spun around expecting to see Malfoy again. Instead it was the bossy girl from earlier.

"What _has_ been going on?" She said looking at the mess of candy that had fallen in their rush to stand up.

"You've met Malfoy before?" Ron asked Harry, ignoring the girl for the moment. Harry explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley.

"I've heard of his family," said Ron darkly, "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who—"

"Voldemort," Riley interrupted, making Ron jump, and the girl squeak. Riley wasn't afraid of saying his name and took great pleasure in watching other people's reactions to it. I mean he was dead wasn't he? It's not like saying his name was going to bring him back. Remus and Isaac had made sure she grew up not being afraid of silly things like that.

"—disappeared," Ron continued like she never said anything, "Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go to the Dark Side." Then he turned to girl. "Can we help you with something?"

"You'd better put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"

"I've been fighting, not them," Riley said calmly. The girl kind of reminded her of Moony when he was in 'prefect mode'.

"Alright— I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors, and you have dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?" The girl said to Ron who glared at her as she left. Riley snickered.

Soon Riley felt the train start to slow. She hurriedly threw her robes over her muggle clothes, as a voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school separately."

**~{}~**

**_Review Please!_**


	3. Chapter 3 Bickering with Hats!

_**Hello all! I'm back again with a very long chapter. There is quite a bit of canon, but this should be the last one like this. Because after this, the chapters will focus more on Riley and the mayhem she causes for the poor teachers. :)**_

**EDIT: 1/29/2012**

**So… I've got nothing to add… **

**Disclaimer: I am but a poor, poor 16 year old with nothing better to do then write random story's for kicks and giggles... so no I don't own anything but that which I created(my OC's) :P**

* * *

><p><em>Chapter Three: Bickering with Hats<em>

The three first years pushed their way off the train nervously and shivered as the cold night air hit them. The platform was well lit for being outdoors. Students were everywhere running this way and that. Riley didn't have a clue where she was supposed to go until she saw a lamp come bobbing over the heads of the students, and she heard a voice call: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"

Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads. Riley almost laughed at how small he made all the students look; even the older ones.

"C'mon, follow me – anymore firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. The complete darkness on either side of them made Riley think there were probably thick trees there or something. Nobody spoke much out of nervousness. One boy with a round face and dark hair, sniffed once or twice, but over all they kept quiet. It was like they were afraid speaking would make everything disappear, like it was too good to be true to finally be at Hogwarts. That's what Riley was thinking, at least.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "Jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "_Oooooh_!"

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers. It was far better then any castle Riley had ever seen in person or on TV. Movies had nothing on this.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry, Ron and Riley were followed onto their boat by Sniffles.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself, "Right then- FORWARD!"

The fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood. Riley though, had become distracted by the lake. She was sure something moved under them; something big. She tried to push that thought away, like this was anytime to be thinking about Nessie like monsters in Hogwarts' lake.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff. They all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. Riley couldn't help but wonder if Hanna-Barbera came here for Scooby-Doo inspiration; it was honestly the perfect place for such a thing. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles. Riley suddenly had a feeling like she was going to run into a real life Batman.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" asked Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.

"Trevor!" cried Sniffles blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door. The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Riley immediately knew that it must be Professor McGonagall. Moony had warned Riley about how strict she was and not to cross her if she could help it.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here," She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of Andromeda's house in it and more. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. Riley couldn't help but think that this would be an awesome place to play a mass game of hide and seek, though getting lost here had to suck.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Riley could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right -the rest of the school must already be here – but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall, "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses."

Riley let her mind wonder as McGonagall talked about the four houses (Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Gryffindor) and how you could earn points and lose points for your house.

Riley had already gotten this speech from Moony in one of his Prefect moods. She really didn't like his Prefect moods, because he was much too responsible and didn't cause as much chaos with her. But he told her that because of his Prefect mood, he got in a lot less trouble then his friends at school. No one would believe that such a responsible young man could be such a troublemaker. That was when Riley figured out that Remus was really a mad genius, and she was exceedingly glad she had him on her side.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting," Her eyes lingered for a moment on Sniffles cloak, which was fastened under his left ear (_how did he...?_), and on Ron's smudged nose. Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair but just made it messier. Riley didn't bother trying to fix her hair, she knew it wouldn't work. Besides, she loved her wild mess of curls.

"I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly," Professor McGonagall said before she left the chamber.

"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" Harry asked Ron and Riley.

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking," Ron said.

Riley snorted, she was sure the teachers wouldn't do anything that would hurt the students, but she didn't tell Ron and Harry that. Instead, she started listing off magical creatures that they might have to fight.

After making Ron go completely pale with fear (she'd noticed he went particularly pale when she'd mentioned Acromantulas, a type of giant spider, and decided to file that in her mind to address later). Riley looked around and to her amusement saw that everyone else looked terrified, too. No one was talking much except the bossy girl from the train, who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learned and wondering which one she'd need.

Soon even Riley started to get nervous. She knew the teachers would never make them do something dangerous, but she couldn't help but worry. After all, it was the test that determined who you were going to be stuck with for the rest of your schooling and to some degree, how you were going to be viewed in the world after school. Who wouldn't be nervous?

The more she tried to calm herself the more crazy her thoughts got. What if they _did_ have to do some sort of test? What if she didn't get picked for a house at all? She kept her eyes fixed on the door. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and lead them to their doom. Despite her freaking out, she could still hear the "duh, duh, DUH!" in the back of her mind.

Then something happened that made her jump about a foot in the air and made several people behind them scream.

"What the –?" Harry gasped. So did the people around them. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance -"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves. He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost - I say, what are you all doing here?" A ghost wearing a ruff and tights said suddenly noticing the first years.

Nobody answered. Riley opened her mouth to make some smart-alack remark (I mean really why else would they be there?) but decided against it. She didn't fancy having a ghost be offended by her big mouth. She knew the more nervous or scared she was, the more sarcastic she got.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them, "About to be Sorted, I suppose."

A few people nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar, "My old house, you know."

"Move along now," said a sharp voice, "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me." Harry got into line behind a boy with sandy hair, with Ron behind him, and Riley behind Ron. They walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

Riley could have never imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting; all of them looking rather intimidating in their own ways.

Professor McGonagall led the first years up there, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them.

The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Riley looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. She heard Hermione whisper, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History."

It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens.

Riley looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty.

Riley stared at it, not really knowing what she was waiting for. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat began to sing:

_"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

(Oh, don't worry I don't, thought Riley)

_ But don't judge on what you see,_

_ I'll eat myself if you can find,_

_ A smarter hat than me._

(Now I want to find a smarter hat,)

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_ Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_ For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_ And I can cap them all._

(Oh, really? I happen to like top hats very much, for your information)

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_ The Sorting Hat can't see, _

(Because that's not creepy, Riley thought, not being able to stop a small smirk from forming on her face.)

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_ Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_ Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_ Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_ Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff, _

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_ Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_ And unafraid of toil;_

(Who uses the word 'toil' anymore?)

_ Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, _

_If you've a ready mind,_

_ Where those of wit and learning,_

_ Will always find their kind;_

_ Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_ You'll make your real friends,_

_ Those cunning folk use any means_

_ To achieve their ends._

(Isn't that kind of contradictory?)

_So put me on! Don't be afraid! _

_And don't get in a flap!_

(How do you get in a flap?)

_ You're in safe hands (though I have none) _

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered to Harry, "I'll kill Fred; he was going on about wrestling a troll."

Harry smiled weakly. All they had to do is try on a _hat_? Riley was slightly disappointed. She was mostly nervous over nothing.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said, "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause - "HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Riley saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!" The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy," Went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender," became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers.

"Bulstrode, Millicent," then became a Slytherin. Watching the table greet the girl rather subdued like, Riley thought they seemed like a rather unpleasant lot.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Sometimes, Riley noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. "Finnigan, Seamus," the sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermione!" Bossy girl from the train practically ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Ron groaned.

Finally "Langley, Riley," was called.

She walked up to the stool with her head held high, and a smile on her face that she hoped didn't betray her nervousness. Right before the hat covered her eyes, Riley winked at the twin's who were grinning at her from the Gryffindor table.

_"_Well, well, well, what do we have here?_" _Riley jumped when she heard the foreign voice in her ear, _"_Hm… yes… you've been through a lot haven't you? Watched one parent die, the other in prison._" _

_Yeah, it's been hard but can we move on? I've been thinking about this for awhile and I think I would like to go to Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. I don't fancy looking like a bumble bee, so no to Hufflepuff, they probably wouldn't like me anyways._

_"_Really now...? And what of Slytherin? You could do well there_."_

_Absolutely not! I'm not an arrogant, slithering, snake._

_"_Yet youposses many of the Slytherin traits; you are cunning and resourceful and you show some ambition. Like I said, you would do well there."

_No. Absolutely not. Besides they wouldn't like me anyways. I like muggles and muggle things too much. _Riley had a feeling the Hat was trying to mess with her, and sadly, she knew it was working... _stupid Hat._

"Maybe. I believe your right about Hufflepuff though. You're loyal and honest, but much too reckless."

_Thank you. _She knew the Hat didn't mean that as a complement, but she didn't care.

"Are you sure you would want to go to Ravenclaw? You don't seem like the studious type to me."

_Well, it depends on what I'm studying._

"Planning for mischievous endeavors doesn't count, but I can see potential in you."

_ See? I could do well there. Besides, they like crazy, don't they?_

And so the bickering went on. Every once in a while the hat would laugh, or hum out loud. After around five minutes people had started to talk among themselves, and then, finally, the Hat came to a decision.

"Yes, there is only one house fit for one as bold as you. I shall put you in GRYFFINDOR!"

Riley smiled in relief, whipped the hat off her head and skipped to the table to sit next to Hermione.

"You were up there for a long time, what happened?" Hermione asked.

Riley shrugged with a smile, "Me and the Hat couldn't come to an agreement is all."

When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR," Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag."

Riley zoned out after that, wondering whether she could find who made the food and convince them to make breakfast the next day only green eggs and ham. She only focused again when she heard;

"Potter, Harry!" As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

"Potter, did she say?"

"_The_ Harry Potter?"

The whispers only stopped when McGonagall dropped the hat over Harry's eyes. The whole hall seemed to be holding their breath as they waited to see where he'd go.

While Riley waited she got a good look at the teachers, trying to put faces to names she heard from Moony and Tonks' stories. At the farthest end of the table from Riley, was a rather odd looking professor. He was looking very peculiar in a large purple turban and he seemed very nervous about something. Next to the turbaned professor, was a surly looking man, with long greasy hair and a large hooked nose. The man was watching Harry with a look Riley couldn't quite identify, but it gave Riley a bad feeling.

Dumbledore sat at the center of the table watching the in hall with intelligent eyes and a warm smile. He was wearing robes of a deep purple that made his silver beard shine brighter then the ghosts. Riley couldn't help the smile that took over her face. Not just anyone could pull off purple robes like that and still easily command respect from those around them. At the other far end of the teachers table near the Gryffindors, sat Hagrid, who caught her eye and gave her a bright smile.

It wasn't until Riley finished her observations of the teachers that the hat finally called: "GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry took off the hat and walked shakily toward the Gryffindor table. He looked completely relieved to have been put in Gryffindor. He probably didn't even notice that he was getting the loudest cheer yet. Riley quickly stood up and whistled and cheered with the others.

Percy the Prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" Harry sat down opposite the ghost in the ruff they'd seen earlier, and next to Riley. Harry shivered noticeably as the ghost patted his arm.

Now there were only four people left to be sorted. "Thomas, Dean," a black boy even taller than Ron, joined Harry and Riley at the Gryffindor table.

"Turpin, Lisa," became a Ravenclaw and then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now. Riley saw Harry cross his fingers under the table and a second later the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" Harry clapped loudly and Riley whistled as Ron collapsed into the chair next to them.

"Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy Weasley pompously across Harry as "Zabini, Blaise," was made a Slytherin.

Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away. Riley looked down at her empty gold plate, silently begging it to fill with food. She hadn't eaten since the brownies that morning, so she was starving.

Dumbledore got to his feet then. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome," he said, "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" And with that he sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered, none more than Riley as Dumbledore had always been one of her heroes.

"Is he—a bit mad?" Harry asked Riley uncertainly.

"Mad?" said Riley laughing, "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yeah. That's what makes him so great! Potatoes, Harry?" She giggled as Harry's mouth fell open. The dishes in front of them were now piled with food. It was amazing.

"That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Harry cut up his steak, "Can't you—"

"I haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years," said the ghost, "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service: resident ghost of GryffindorTower."

"I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly, "My brothers told me about you— you're Nearly Headless Nick!"

"I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy—" the ghost began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted.

"Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?" Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted.

"Like this," he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back onto his neck, coughed, and said, "So— new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year. Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable— he's the Slytherin ghost."

Riley looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. She definitely didn't think that was Casper the Friendly Ghost. He was right next to Malfoy who, Riley was pleased to see, didn't look too happy with the seating arrangements.

"How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus with great interest.

"I've never asked," Nearly Headless Nick replied delicately.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding. As Riley pigged out on chocolate éclairs, the talk turned to their families.

"I'm half-and-half," said Seamus, "Me dad's a muggle. Mom didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him." The others laughed.

"What about you, Neville?" said Ron.

"Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch," said Neville, "but the family thought I was all-Muggle for ages. My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me—he pushed me off the end of Blackpoll pier once, I nearly drowned—but nothing happened until I was eight. Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced—all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faces when I got in here—they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad."

Riley frowned. _He's not serious is he? That's awful!_

On Riley's other side, Percy Weasley and Hermione were talking about lessons ("I do hope they start right away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration, you know, turning something into something else, of course, it's supposed to be very difficult—"; "You'll be starting small, just matches into needles and that sort of thing—")

Riley looked up at the teachers table. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. The odd Professor, in his absurd turban, was talking to the hooked nosed teacher, Riley thought might be the Professor Snape that Tonks often complained about.

"Ouch!" Harry yelled as he clapped a hand to his head.

Riley whipped her head around to look at him, "What is it?"

"N-Nothing,"

Riley frowned again. That obviously wasn't nothing, but she decided against interrogating him for now.

"Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" Harry asked Percy.

"Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to - everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job, Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."

"Yeah, he's pretty nasty from what I've heard," Riley said. Harry nodded but kept watching Snape for a while.

At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent instantly.

"Ahem—just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well," Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins, who just smirked at each other, "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year; the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death," Harry laughed and a few others laughed a bit nervously. Riley, on the other hand, was staring at Dumbledore, willing him to tell them more about it; her mind whirling with the possibilities of what could be in the corridor.

"He's not serious," She heard Harry mutter to Percy.

"Must be," said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore, "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere—the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least."

Riley hummed in thought for a moment before pushing it to the side. She was too sleepy to be thinking so much.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Harry noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed, and pointed it out to Riley, who laughed with him.

Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

"Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!" And the school bellowed:

_"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, _

_Teach us something please, _

_Whether we be old and bald_

_ Or young with scabby knees,_

_ Our heads could do with filling_

_ With some interesting stuff,_

_ For now they're bare and full of air,_

_ Dead flies and bits of fluff,_

_ So teach us things worth knowing,_

_ Bring back what we've forgot,_

_ Just do your best, we'll do the rest,_

_And learn until our brains all rot._

Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.

"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes, "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

The Gryffindor first years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Riley was too sleepy to notice or care that twice Percy led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet, and Riley was just wondering how much farther they had to go when they came to a sudden halt.

A bundle of walking sticks was floating in midair ahead of them, and as Percy took a step toward them they started throwing themselves at him.

"Peeves," Percy whispered to the first years, "A poltergeist."

He raised his voice, "Peeves—show yourself!" A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.

"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?" There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross- legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.

"Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle, "Ickle Firsties! What fun!" He swooped suddenly at them. They all hastily ducked.

"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy.

Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armor as he passed.

"You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy, as they set off again, "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are." At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she asked.

"Caput Draconis," Percy answered, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it—Neville needed a leg up—and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.

Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase—they were obviously in one of the towers—they found their beds at last: five four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up.

Two girls Riley learned were named Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil started chatting while the rest of them got ready for bed. Riley already didn't like them; they were keeping her from her precious sleep. Didn't they know that?

She climbed into a bed between Hermione and a mousey looking girl with light brown hair that fell in her face and light blue eyes, whose name was Ali Day. Riley lay down and tried to ignore the girls chatting.

After about twenty minutes Riley had enough. She sat up and yelled; "Oh for the love of Morgana's red dress shut your traps!"

Lavender and Parvati stared at her with their mouths agape.

After a minute Hermione burst into giggles, and a second later so did Riley and Ali. Lavender and Parvati huffed but got ready for bed in silence. This was going to be a long seven years, Riley thought as she fell asleep.

**~{}~**

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><strong>


	4. Chapter 4 And Thus the Loathing Begins

**EDIT: 1/30/2012**

_**Grammar should be better and I think a few little details have been changed but that's it. **_

_**Enjoy!**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my OC's**

* * *

><p><em>Chapter Four: And Thus the Loathing Begins.<em>

Whispers followed Harry from the moment he left his dormitory the next day. People lining up outside classrooms stood on tiptoe to get a look at him, or doubled back to pass him in the corridors again, staring.

Riley found it extremely annoying and distracting when you're trying to find your classes.

"Don't you people have any self respect? He's not something to be stared at like a mannequin at a museum! He's a boy who needs to get to class and you're not helping." Riley finally snapped at a group of girls who were openly pointing, whispering and giggling.

Harry smiled gratefully at her as they continued their search for their classroom.

There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts (yeah, she counted): wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, and Riley was sure the coats of armor could walk.

The ghosts didn't help, either. It was always a nasty shock when one of them glided suddenly through a door you were trying to open. Nearly Headless Nick was always happy to point new Gryffindors in the right direction, but Peeves the Poltergeist was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase if you met him when you were late for class. He would drop wastepaper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!" it was really funny as long as he wasn't doing it to you… well, okay it was still funny then too.

And the caretaker, Argus Filch, was a right git if he was in a bad mood… or really any mood. Harry, Ron and Riley managed to get on the wrong side of him on their very first morning. Filch found them trying to force their way through a door that unluckily turned out to be the entrance to the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor. He wouldn't believe they were lost, and was sure they were trying to break into it on purpose, and was threatening to lock them in the dungeons when they were rescued by Professor Quirrell, who was passing.

But one good thing about getting lost means you find a lot of hidden passages and stairwells that sometimes lead exactly where you need them too. Sometimes "please" really is the magic word.

As for the classes Riley loved them... well, most of them anyway.

They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. That was interesting because Riley always loved watching the stars.

Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found out what they were used for. That was fun too, until Riley got scratched by a venomous tentacula and had to go to the hospital wing.

Easily the most boring class was History of Magic, which was the only one taught by a ghost. Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates, and got Emeric the Evil and Uric the Oddball mixed up. Riley had to fight extremely hard not to fall asleep in his class. She never was one for history.

Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class he took the roll call, and when he reached Harry's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight. It took about five minutes for Riley, Harry and Ron to stop snickering. But other than that Riley found the class rather fun.

Professor McGonagall was exactly like Moony had warned Riley she'd be. Strict and clever, she gave them a talking-to the moment they sat down in her first class.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned." Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. (What a way to change the subject no?) They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time.

After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. By the end of the lesson, only Hermione Granger had made any difference to their matches; Professor McGonagall showed the class how it had gone all silver and pointy and gave Hermione a rare smile.

The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story.

For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather; for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went.

Friday was an important day for Harry, Ron and Riley. They finally managed to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost once.

"What have we got today?" Harry asked Ron as he poured sugar on his porridge.

"Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Ron. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House, They say he always favors them - we'll be able to see if it's true."

"My Godfather went to school with Snape, said he was a real git, and always tried to get him and his friends in trouble." Riley told the boys. Of course that's not really what Moony said, he was much too nice to say something like that. But it was close enough.

"Yeah, Fred and George told me he's awful, especially to Gryffindors." Ron told us as he shoved food in his mouth.

"Wish McGonagall favored us," said Harry. Professor McGonagall wasn't one for favoritism.

Just then, the mail arrived. Riley had gotten used to this by now, but it had given her a bit of a shock on the first morning, when about a hundred owls had suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners, and dropping letters and packages onto their laps.

Riley was surprised when Batman (her finally named owl) plopped down in front of her, landing in her cereal. He seemed to have gotten her clumsiness. Riley tore it open at once. It said, in very neat and loopy writing:

_Dear Red,_

_How are you? I haven't heard from you for awhile. Tell me all about your time at school so far. What house did you get in? How do you like your classes? What do you think of the teachers? Have you made any friends? I got a job at a muggle bookstore, started last week. I spend most of my time there reading the books. It's wonderful. Would you like me to send you some? I know you like muggle books as much as I do. I miss you love, so does Andy, Ted, Tonks and Mad-eye. They send their love. Write back soon?_

_Love, _

_Remus_

Riley smiled. She always loved hearing from Remus. She worried about him a lot. Since he was a werewolf, people didn't like to hire him or really be near him at all. Afraid he was going to eat them or something if they made him mad. It was ridiculous, but that was life she supposed.

So because of this, Riley was really happy and surprised Remus found a job he seemed to like. _And maybe,_ she thought hopefully. _Because it's run by muggles he won't get fired._

**~{}~**

It was lucky that Riley had gotten a letter from Remus to cheer her up, because the Potions lesson turned out to be the worst class so far.

Riley had heard bad things about Snape since before she even got to Hogwarts, but she always tried to see the good in people. And by the end of her first Potions lesson she wasn't sure there _was_ any good in him. Snape seemed to not only dislike Harry - but hate him with a fiery passion, and he wasn't too keen on Riley either.

Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals and other things floating in glass jars all around the walls. It was almost the sort of place you would expect Dracula to show up in… or Igor…

_Bet Snape would love having someone like Igor to follow him around… Probably make a zombie and start yelling "It's alive! It's alive!"_ Riley mused.

Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name. Poor Harry.

"Ah, Yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new - celebrity." Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. But the only thing Riley could think was; _they had an old one?_

Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word - like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses..."

"Maybe we should let him be alone with his 'softly simmering cauldron' yeah?" Riley whispered to the boys, who had to stuff their fists in their mouths to stop from laughing.

"I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even put a stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach." More silence followed this little speech. Harry, Ron and Riley exchanged looks with raised eyebrows still trying not to laugh. Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead.

"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Harry glanced at Ron, who looked as stumped as he was; Hermione's hand had shot into the air.

"I don't know, sir," said Harry.

Snape's lips curled into a sneer.

"Tut, tut - fame clearly isn't everything." He ignored Hermione's hand. Riley looked irritated. How was he supposed to know that? It wasn't even in their books and what did fame have to do with it? She hated it when her friends were picked on.

"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat, but Harry looked like he didn't have the faintest idea what a bezoar was. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, were shaking with laughter.

_Like they know the answer._ Riley thought glaring at them.

"I don't know, sir."

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?"

Git.

Snape was still ignoring Hermione's quivering hand.

"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?" At this, Hermione stood up, her hand stretching toward the dungeon ceiling.

"I don't know," said Harry quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her." A few people laughed; Harry caught Seamus's eye, and Seamus winked. Riley just smirked.

Snape, however, was not pleased.

"Sit down," he snapped at Hermione. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well. Why aren't you all copying that down?"

There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter."

Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like.

He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.

"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire." Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose.

"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville.

"You – Potter – why didn't you tell him not to add the quills. Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you. That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor." This was so unfair that Harry opened his mouth to argue, but Ron kicked him behind their cauldron.

"Don't push it," he muttered, "I've heard Snape can turn very nasty."

But Riley's temper had already gotten a hold of her and she didn't care.

"That's not fair!" she yelled standing up. Snape whipped around to face her. "Harry was just trying to get his potion right, how was he supposed to know Neville wasn't doing his right? And Neville is not an idiot, how is anyone supposed to get there potion right with _you _breathing down our necks?"

Riley knew she was going to get in trouble but she just couldn't stand the injustice. Snape gave her a death glare and said in a deathly quiet voice.

"Detention, Langley, tonight. And twenty points from Gryffindor for yelling at a teacher."

As they climbed the steps out of the dungeon an hour later, Riley's mind was racing and her spirits were low. She'd lost twenty points for Gryffindor in her very first week - what were Moony and Andy going to say?

"Cheer up," Said Ron, "Snape's always taking points off Fred and George." Then he turned to Harry and asked, "Can I come and meet Hagrid with you?"

"Yeah, you should come too Riley, you'll feel better." Harry said.

So at five to three they left the castle and made their way across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the forbidden forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door.

When Harry knocked they heard a frantic scrabbling from inside and several booming barks. Then Hagrid's voice rang out, saying, "Back, Fang - back." Hagrid's big, hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door open.

"Hang on," he said. "Back, Fang." He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound.

There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling; a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it.

"Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid, letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Ron and started licking his ears. Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked.

"This is Ron," Harry told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate.

"Another Weasley, eh." said Hagrid, glancing at Ron's freckles. "I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest."

The rock cakes were shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth, but Harry, Riley and Ron pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid all about their first -lessons. Fang rested his head on Harry's knee and drooled all over his robes.

They were delighted to hear Hagrid call Filch "that old git."

"An' as fer that cat, Mrs. Norris, I'd like ter introduce her to Fang sometime. D'yeh know, every time I go up ter the school, she follows me everywhere. Can't get rid of her - Filch puts her up to it." Riley laughed.

Harry told Hagrid about Snape's lesson. Hagrid, like Ron, told Harry not to worry about it, that Snape liked hardly any of the students.

"But he seemed to really hate me."

"Rubbish!" said Hagrid. "Why should he? And you Riley, shouldn't be yellin' at teachers like tha'"

Riley looked unabashed.

"Well I couldn't let him be so nasty to Harry and Neville, now could I?" she said defiantly. Hagrid just muttered something, and then abruptly changed the subject.

"How's yer brother Charlie." Hagrid asked Ron. "I liked him a lot - great with animals."

While Ron told Hagrid all about Charlie's work with dragons, Harry picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cozy. It was a cutting from the Daily Prophet Riley read over his shoulder:

GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST

_Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown._

_Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day._

_"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokes goblin this afternoon._

"Hagrid!" said Harry, "that Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!"

There was no doubt about it; Hagrid definitely didn't meet Harry's eyes. He grunted and offered him another rock cake, but Riley being the curious girl she was started to wonder…

As the trio walked back to the castle for dinner, their pockets weighed down with rock cakes they'd been too polite to refuse, Riley couldn't help but be depressed. She had a feeling tonight's detention was going to be awful.

At about half past eight she walked down to the dungeons, sneaking past Peeves unnoticed, her dread growing with every step closer she took to Snape's office.

Finally she got there and knocked on the door.

"Come in." she heard Snape drawl from inside. She walked in and stood in front of his desk waiting for him to acknowledge her.

"Sit down over there; you will be pickling frog eyes tonight."

"Lovely." she muttered under her breath.

She worked for about an hour in silence, until Snape came over and said in a voice that left no doubt in her mind that he loathed her.

"I realize that your father and his friends never had much respect for their superiors, but that does not mean I will tolerate you smart mouthing me again… next time I will not be so lenient."

Riley glared her best death glare at him and gritted her teeth, figuring now was not the best time to open her big mouth and say something to get her in more trouble.

"Go. You're done here."

Riley left without a word.

_Lenient! Ha! He doesn't know the definition of the word. Moony taught me to respect those who earn it! If he wants my respect he's going to have to work for it._

Riley kept up that rant in her head the rest of the way back to the tower. When she finally got to sleep it was with dread in her heart knowing tomorrow she was likely to get a very angry letter from her Aunt Andy and Moony.

**~{}~**

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	5. Chapter 5 Brooms,Duals and 3 Headed Dogs

**EDIT: 1/30/2012**

**So, I think only one scene is changed to McGonagall's POV and lots of grammar mistakes are fixed. Please don't take my author notes as example. ;P**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I Don't Own Anything but My OC's**

* * *

><p><em>Chapter Five; Brooms, Duels and Three Headed Dogs…<em>

Riley was not in a hurry to get to breakfast the next morning. She knew when she got down there; she would get disappointed letters from Andy and Moony. She hated disappointing Remus, but she thought she was entirely justified in yelling at Snape. I mean, she was just standing up for her friends, so that should count for something right?

So Riley trudged slowly to the Great Hall and because she just has the best luck ever (note the sarcasm), as soon as she sat down the mail came.

Batman flew dutifully down to his owner and promptly tripped over her glass and landed right into her bowl of cereal.

"Bloody hell," Ron said wiping milk off his face, having been splashed when Batman landed. "That birds worse the Errol."

"Sorry Ron, I don't even think Batman is worse than Errol." Harry laughed as he pointed to said owl. Poor Errol was trying to untangle himself from some fourth year girl's hair.

Ron jumped up to help, while Riley and Harry laughed.

Riley grabbed her letters when Batman started to nip her fingers. The first was written in a narrow cursive, while the other was the familiar neat and loopy. Riley opened the one from Andy first;

_Riley Eliza Anastasia Selena Langley, _Riley flinched at the use of her full name, her mother was insane for giving her so many.

_Am I reading this letter from Hogwarts right? You got detention already for YELLING at a TEACHER? You're barely a week into school and already you're getting detention! I am extremely disappointed in you. I better not get another letter like this!_

_Other than that we all miss you a lot sweetheart! Especially Dora, she misses her partner in crime._

_Love you lot's,_

_Aunt Andy_

She's said it many times in her relatively short life and she'll say it once more; Andromeda. Is. insane.

Riley carefully opened the next one, expecting to be given the famous Moony guilt trip speech; he's really good at those. So she was surprised when she saw;

_Dear Red,_

_Congratulations! If you keep this up you may just beat my record! In third year I got detention on the second day of school, your dad got it an hour into the feast in fifth year. But I shouldn't be saying that because as we speak Andromeda is yelling at me for encouraging you. She can be quite scary when she wants to be. So since I'd rather like to not be yelled at again, I have to say this;_

_I'm very disappointed in you. You shouldn't be yelling at teachers and you need to respect all your teachers. Yes, even Professor Snape. I know I told you about how he used to try to get my friends and me in trouble, but that is no reason not to respect him now. We were all kids back then and it shouldn't affect you view on him now. Anyways, I have to go now, but I would like to hear all about how you liked your classes and everything._

_Love, _

_Moony_

Riley laughed; Remus could be so unpredictable sometimes. She figured it just went along with being a mad genius, as she so affectionately called him.

Riley shoved the letters into her bag and headed off to class with Ron and Harry feeling considerably happier.

**~{}~**

Riley had never believed she could possibly hate everything about a person, but that was before she'd met Draco Malfoy. Still, first-year Gryffindors only had Potions with the Slytherins, so they didn't have to put up with Malfoy much. Or at least, they didn't until they spotted a notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common room that made them all groan.

Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday - and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together.

"Typical," said Harry darkly. "Just what I always wanted; to make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy." He had been talking about learning to fly since Ron told him about Quidditch.

"Well, if that's what you've always wanted, then this will be one special day right?" Riley couldn't stop herself and earned a glare and a roll of the eyes for her effort.

"You don't know that you'll make a fool of yourself," Ron said reasonably. "Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk."

Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a lot. He complained loudly about first years never getting on the house Quidditch teams and told long, boastful stories that always seemed to end with him narrowly escaping muggles in helicopters (it was surprising he even knew what those were, really).

He wasn't the only one, though: the way Seamus Finnigan told it, he'd spent most of his childhood zooming around the countryside on his broomstick. Even Ron would tell anyone who'd listen about the time he'd almost hit a hang glider on Charlie's old broom.

Everyone from wizarding families talked about Quidditch constantly, well except Riley. She liked the sport, but she found that there are many more interesting topics to talk about then sports.

Ron had already had a big argument with Dean Thomas, about soccer. Ron couldn't see what was exciting about a game with only one ball where no one was allowed to fly. Riley personally thought soccer was extremely boring to watch but fun to play.

Neville had never been on a broomstick in his life, because his grandmother had never let him near one. Kind of like Riley, whose godfather always said she had enough problems on the ground. Harry told her that he felt they'd had good reason, because Neville and Riley managed to have an extraordinary number of accidents even with both feet on the ground.

Hermione Granger was almost as nervous about flying as Neville was. This was something you couldn't learn by heart out of a book - not that she hadn't tried. At breakfast on Thursday she bored them all stupid with flying tips she'd gotten out of a library book called Quidditch through the Ages. Neville was hanging on to her every word, desperate for anything that might help him hang on to his broomstick later, but everybody else was very pleased when Hermione's lecture was interrupted by the arrival of the mail.

A barn owl brought Neville a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke.

"It's a Remembrall!" he explained. "Gran knows I forget things - this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red - oh..." His face fell, because the Remembrall had suddenly glowed scarlet, "You've forgotten something..."

"Seems pretty useless to me if it only tells you forgot something, but not _what_ you forgot." Riley commented too much agreement.

Neville was trying to remember what he'd forgotten when Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Remembrall out of his hand.

Harry, Ron and Riley jumped to their feet. They were half hoping for a reason to fight Malfoy, but Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash.

"What's going on?"

"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor."

Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table.

"Just looking," he said, and he sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.

"Right and I am a princess." Riley mumbled as she sat back down.

**~{}~**

At three-thirty that afternoon, Riley and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.

The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Ron, Harry and Riley had heard Fred and George Weasley complain about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left.

Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, gray hair, that was almost spiky and yellow eyes like a hawk. Riley thought she looked kind of bad-arse.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

Riley glanced down at her broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say `Up!"

"UP!" everyone shouted.

Harry's broom jumped into his hand at once, but it was one of the few that did. Hermione Granger's had simply rolled over on the ground, and Neville's hadn't moved at all. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were afraid; there was a quaver in Neville's voice that said only too clearly that he wanted to keep his feet on the ground.

Riley's broom jumped to her hand after the second try. She was still a bit apprehensive about flying something that barley looked like it could carry you. It also didn't help that it looked like it could give you one nasty wedgie.

Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips.

The trio was delighted when she told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle - three - two -"

But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.

"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle - twelve feet - twenty feet. Riley saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and - WHAM - a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay face down on the grass in a heap. His broomstick was still rising higher and higher, and started to drift lazily toward the forbidden forest and out of sight.

Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as white as his.

"Broken wrist," they heard her mutter. "Come on, boy - it's all right, up you get."

She turned to the rest of the class.

"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear." Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him.

No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter.

"Did you see his face? The great lump." The other Slytherins joined in.

"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom." said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. "Never thought that you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati."

"Look who's talking Parkinson, Malfoy's a skinny, rat faced ferret, and you like him." Riley snapped. Pansy's face went eight shades of red.

Malfoy sneered. "Watch your mouth when talking to your superiors, Langley."

"You can't honestly mean yourself?" Riley scoffed.

Malfoy whipped out his wand at the same time Riley, Ron and Harry did.

"Go ahead. I dare you." Riley said glaring at the prat.

He seemed to realize he was out numbered as he saw that none of his housemates were going to help him. So he lowered his wand and instead glared at the three Gryffindors.

"Look!" Malfoy said suddenly, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him." The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.

"Give that here, Malfoy," Harry said quietly. Everyone was quite as they watched fight continue.

Malfoy smiled nastily.

"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find - how about - up a tree."

"Give it here!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he could fly well. Hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, "Come and get it, Potter!" Harry grabbed his broom.

"No!" shouted Hermione Granger. "Madam Hooch told us not to move - you'll get us all into trouble." Harry ignored her.

Instead He mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up he soared; air rushed through his hair, and his robes whipped out behind him. He pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher and heard screams and gasps of girls back on the ground, an admiring whoop from Ron and heard Riley yell;

"Yeah, get him Potter! Knock him off his broom!"

He laughed and turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in midair. Malfoy looked stunned.

"Give it here," Harry called, "or I'll knock you off that broom!"

"Oh, yeah?" said Malfoy, trying to sneer, but looking worried.

Riley watched below in awe as Harry leaned forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands, and it shot toward Malfoy like a javelin. Malfoy only just got out of the way in time; Harry made a sharp about-face and held the broom steady. Riley heard a few people around her clapping.

"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," Harry called.

The same thought seemed to have struck Malfoy.

"Catch it if you can, then!" he shouted, and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back toward the ground.

Riley watched, as though in slow motion, as Harry leaned forward and went into a steep dive, racing the ball – some of the girl's screamed making Riley flinch. She watched as Harry stretched out his hand – a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently onto the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in his fist.

"HARRY POTTER!" Riley turned around and there was Professor McGonagall running toward them. Harry got to his feet, looking like he just lost his best friend.

"Never – in all my time at Hogwarts –"

Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, "— how dare you – might have broken your neck –"

"It wasn't his fault, Professor –"

"Be quiet, Miss Langley"

"But Malfoy -"

"That's enough, Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me, now." Riley caught sight of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle's triumphant faces as Harry left, walking hunched over Professor McGonagall's wake as she strode toward the castle.

"Well that was eventful…" Riley said fighting a grin.

Ron looked at her like she was crazy. "Aren't you worried he'll be expelled?"

"I told him not to do that." Said Hermione in a I'm-a-stiff-know-it-all-and-so-I'm-going-to-say-I-told-you-so voice.

"He won't be expelled for something as silly as this. He'll probably have a few detentions though." Riley said, ignoring Hermione's comment. "Want to play Exploding Snap while we wait?"

Ron shook his head at her but joined her none the less. About an hour, ten games and a couple of singed eyebrows later Madame Hooch came back and sent them all to dinner.

"You're joking." They were In the Great Hall. Harry had just finished telling Ron and Riley what had happened when he'd left the grounds with Professor McGonagall. Apparently, she had taken him to see the captain of the Quidditch team and made him seeker.

Ron had a piece of steak and kidney pie halfway to his mouth, but he'd forgotten all about it.

"Told you he wouldn't get expelled." Riley said happily. But Ron just waved her off.

"Seeker." he said. "But first years never – you must be the youngest house player in about—"

"A century," said Harry, shoveling pie into his mouth. "Wood told me."

Ron was so amazed, so impressed; he just sat and gaped at Harry. Riley just laughed at the look on his face.

"I start training next week," said Harry. "Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret." Fred and George Weasley (or as Riley called them Thing 1 and Thing 2) had come into the hall, spotted Harry, and hurried over.

"Well done," said George in a low voice. "Wood told us. We're on the team too – Beaters."

"I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year." said Fred. "We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us."

"Anyway, we've got to go; Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school."

"Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you."

Riley gaped. "Wait. Can I come?"

George turned around and smiled mischievously. "But of course milady."

Riley grinned back. "Right, see you guys in the common room." She said to Ron and Harry as she shoved the last bit of her food in her mouth and ran after the twins.

Ron looked at Harry with worry. "Why do I have a bad feeling about those three hanging out?"

"Because we may never see peace again?" suggested Harry as he shrugged.

**~{}~**

"So the next day, Filch comes running into the great hall (high heels, feather boa and all) goes straight to the headmaster and stands there for a couple of minutes, looks like he's fighting with himself, his face goes all red and finally he says 'does this dress make me look fat?' I don't think I've ever laughed so hard." said Fred as Riley, George, and Lee roared with laughter.

Fred, George and Lee were showing Riley around the castle, telling her where the best short cuts and the best places to hide when running from Filch and Mrs. Norris were. They had just covered the west side and were heading to the kitchens for a snack.

"You have to teach me those charms!" Riley exclaimed with an almost evil grin on her face "Just think what we could do to Malfoy or even better Snape!"

"Ah, Fred I think we found ourselves an apprentice." said George thoughtfully.

"Hum… I quite agree." said Fred.

"First, I think she should find a secret passage way without our help." said Lee.

"Oh, that's easy." said Riley waving her hand. "There's that big one behind the mirror on the fourth floor, you know the one I'm sure, yeah?"

Fred, George and Lee smiled. This was going to be fun.

As they walked down the stone steps towards the kitchens, Riley suddenly got an idea. She turned to the boys grinning like crazy.

"I've got a surprise for you guys that you're going to absolutely love"

Fred raised his eyebrows at her, "Really? And what might that be?"

Riley just smiled mysteriously and took off for the common room, leaving behind three very confused boys.

**~{}~**

"No way!"

"Where did you get this?"

"_How_ did you get this? I thought they stopped selling it!"

The three pranksters were practically jumping with excitement at the book Riley just showed them. Yes, a _book_. It just so happened that this book was called; _Best Jinxes and Hexes of the Century. _

Riley grinned. "My godfather got it for me for my birthday. I haven't had the chance to try any out yet… so I was thinking…"

"Yes?" said Lee almost scared of the look she was giving them.

"Well… I just happened to notice there are a lot of students that are just wondering around, probably very bored… and I thought that maybe we could entertain them."

The boys grinned evilly.

"This, Riley… is the start of a _beautiful _friendship." said Fred putting his arm around her shoulders.

And thus it started. Suddenly students were pouring into the hospital wing, some had different colored skin, some were sprouting feathers and clucking and some gained different colored polka-dots every time they said a certain word, and some of the more unfortunate ones had suddenly grown tails and donkey ears, only able to speak in brays.

No one noticed the poorly stifled laughter coming from a little alcove behind the suit of armor in the entrance hall.

But even though it seemed that the four had no trouble with using any of the charms in the book. This was not the case. In one unfortunate incident, Riley tried to cast a charm to make a Hufflepuff fifth year only speak in haikus, only for it to go horribly wrong by ricocheting (ironically off their prefect badge) and hitting her instead.

At first all she noticed was a faint tingling go through her body. Then she spotted the sleek, shiny, ebony hair flowing down her shoulder.

"My hair!" she cried out in horror.

The boys gaped at her. She looked down and saw that her skin was also tan and she had… _breasts? _Still in her shocked state she grabbed them, and then looked up at the boys staring at her in shock.

"These I can deal with, but my hair is ruined!" she cried sorrowfully. That seemed to be the breaking point for the boys, because they burst into laughter not stopping for a good five minutes, while Riley whimpered "my hair, my wonderful, wild hair!"

After they calmed down enough to think, they started trying to put her back. An hour later with no results, had them deciding it was hopeless and that they needed help.

**~{}~**

Minerva McGonagall was having a lovely night. She was sitting at her desk 'grading' papers and sipping her favorite tea. (Really, she was reading one of her favorite books.) She was sure nothing could ruin such a nice evening.

She really should have known better then to think something like that, because just then, a knock sounded on the door. Sighing, she placed her book down and opened the door. There she saw an odd sight.

The Weasley twins and their best friend Lee Jordan, were trying to hold in there laughter while another girl, Minerva didn't recognize, was practically in tears.

Minerva sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Do I want to know?"

The twins automatically pointed to Riley and said; "she did it!"

This just caused Lee to fall to the ground laughing.

Minerva sighed again and got them to explain exactly what was wrong. Shaking her head in slight amazement at how badly the spell went wrong, Minerva put Riley right and sent them off with a warning.

_They're going to be the death of me. _She thought as she watched the group leave her office and heard Riley say with a pout;

"She didn't have to make my chest flat again… I liked having breasts." while the others just laughed at her.

For the fourth time in five minutes, poor Professor McGonagall sighed again and shut the door.

**~{}~**

"Hey, I just noticed something." Lee said as they walked back to the Gryffindor common room.

"What's that?"

"Why do they call something so great _boo_bies?"

"Yeah," Fred agreed. "It doesn't seem right to be so negative."

"So what should we call them?" Riley asked.

"Hooraybies?" asked George.

"Nah that sounds like a disease." said Lee thoughtfully.

"How about yaybies?" Fred asked.

"Sounds good to me." Riley agreed as she laughed.

Thus started a tradition that would go on for ages with no one really understanding how or why just that it got a girls stamp of approval.

**~{}~**

When Riley finally got back to the common room, she was in a wonderful mood. She, the twins and Lee had made lots of mayhem and McGonagall already named Riley as the 'Bane of Her Existence'. So Riley was proud to say that day had been _very_ successful.

She really didn't think anything could ruin her mood.

She really should learn not to jinx stuff like that.

She had walked over to sit with Harry and Ron, and immediately they told her about the dual that Malfoy had challenged them too. It's not that she wasn't all for Harry kicking Malfoy's butt in a dual, it's just he didn't know enough spells. The worst he could do was send sparks at Malfoy and after hearing those stories about Lucius Malfoy… who knew what curses his son would know.

All the same, it wasn't what you'd call the perfect end to the day. (Though admittedly Riley was excited to go watch a dual, no matter how feeble) Ron and Riley had spent the rest of the evening giving Harry advice such as "If he tries to curse you, you'd better dodge it, because I can't remember how to block them." And "if nothing happens, forget your wand and punch him in the nose."

There was a very good chance they were going to get caught by Filch or Mrs. Norris, and Riley was excited to be sneaking through the castle at night. It was going to help her on her quest to learn all of Hogwarts secrets.

"Half-past eleven," Ron muttered at last, "We'd better go."

They went to their separate dorms and pulled on their bathrobes, picked up their wands, and crept back into the Gryffindor common room. A few embers were still glowing in the fireplace, turning all the armchairs into hunched black shadows. They had almost reached the portrait hole when a voice spoke from the chair nearest them,

"I can't believe you're going to do this, Harry." A lamp flickered on. It was Hermione Granger, wearing a pink bathrobe and a frown.

"You!" said Ron furiously. "Go back to bed!"

"I almost told your brother," Hermione snapped, "Percy – he's a prefect, he'd put a stop to this." Harry couldn't believe anyone could be so interfering. Riley was berating herself for not noticing Hermione wasn't in their dorm.

"Come on," Harry said to Ron and Riley. He pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the hole.

Hermione wasn't going to give up that easily though. She followed Riley through the portrait hole, hissing at them like an angry goose.

"Don't you care about Gryffindor? Do you only care about yourselves? I don't want Slytherin to win the house cup, and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells."

"Go. Away."

"All right, but I warned you. You just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so –" But what they were, they didn't find out. Hermione had turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady to get back inside and found herself facing an empty painting. The Fat Lady had gone on a nighttime visit and Hermione was locked out of Gryffindor tower.

"Now what am I going to do?" she asked shrilly.

"That's your problem." said Ron. "We've got to go; we're going to be late." They hadn't even reached the end of the corridor when Hermione caught up with them.

"I'm coming with you." she said.

"You are not."

"D'you think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds all four of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you, and you can back me up."

"You've got some nerve –" said Ron loudly. Riley just rolled her eyes, sometime Hermione really got on her nerves.

"Shut up, both of you!" said Harry sharply. "I heard something." It was a sort of snuffling.

"Mrs. Norris?" breathed Ron, squinting through the dark.

It wasn't Mrs. Norris. It was Neville. He was curled up on the floor, fast asleep, but jerked suddenly awake as they crept nearer.

"Thank goodness you found me! I've been out here for hours; I couldn't remember the new password to get in to bed." _Poor Neville, He's got worse luck then me,_ thought Riley.

"Keep your voice down, Neville. The password's 'Pig snout' but it won't help you now; the Fat Lady's gone off somewhere."

"How's your arm?" said Harry.

"Fine," said Neville, showing them. "Madam Pomfrey mended it in about a minute."

"Good - well, look, Neville, we've got to be somewhere, we'll see you later -"

"Don't leave me!" said Neville, scrambling to his feet, "I don't want to stay here alone, the Bloody Baron's been past twice already."

"Ah, Neville don't worry about the Bloody Baron. I've heard he's really a softie." Riley said. She liked Neville, he was a good friend. He just had some confidence issues.

Neville smiled weakly at her, but still shook his head and followed.

Ron looked at his watch and then glared furiously at Hermione and Neville.

"If either of you get us caught, I'll never rest until I've learned that Curse of the Bogies, Quirrell told us about, and used it on you."

Hermione opened her mouth to tell Ron exactly how to use the Curse of the Bogies, but Harry hissed at her to be quiet and beckoned them all forward.

They flitted along corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn they expected to run into Filch or Mrs. Norris, but they were lucky. They sped up a staircase to the third floor and tiptoed toward the trophy room.

Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there yet. The crystal trophy cases glimmered where the moonlight caught them. Cups, shields, plates, and statues winked silver and gold in the darkness. They edged along the walls, keeping their eyes on the doors at either end of the room. Harry and Riley took out their wands in case Malfoy and his cronies came in and started shoot off curses. The minutes crept by.

"He's late, maybe he's chickened out." Ron whispered. All the sudden a horrible thought struck Riley; _what if this was a set up?_

Then a noise in the next room made them jump. Harry had only just raised his wand when they heard someone speak -and it wasn't Malfoy.

"Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner." It was Filch speaking to Mrs. Norris. Horror-struck, Harry waved madly at the other four to follow him as quickly as possible; they scurried silently toward the door, away from Filch's voice.

Riley couldn't believe she didn't see this coming, but still couldn't help but find this fun. Neville's robes had barely whipped round the corner when they heard Filch enter the trophy room.

"They're in here somewhere," they heard him mutter, "probably hiding."

"This way!" Harry mouthed to the others and, petrified, they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armor. They could hear Filch getting nearer.

Riley was cursing Fred and George in her head for not telling her where the short cuts were in this part of the castle. Neville suddenly let out a frightened squeak and broke into a run -he tripped, grabbed Ron around the waist, and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armor.

The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle.

"RUN!" Harry yelled, and the five of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following – they swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor then another, Harry in the lead, without any idea where they were or where they were going – they ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room.

"I think we've lost him," Harry panted, leaning against the cold wall and wiping his forehead. Neville was bent double, wheezing and spluttering and Riley was laughing hysterically while trying to catch her breath.

"I – told –you," Hermione gasped, clutching at the stitch in her chest, "I – told – you."

"Ha-ha. Hermione now's not really the time for I told you so's. Ha-ha." Riley said trying to stifle her laughter. "That was fun!" she got glares for that.

"We've got to get back to Gryffindor tower," said Ron, "quickly as possible."

"Malfoy tricked you," Hermione said to Harry. "You realize that, don't you? He was never going to meet you - Filch knew someone was going to be in the trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him off."

"No Hermione, we didn't know that. We just thought it was a crazy coincidence." Riley said dripping with sarcasm. Hermione glared at her.

"Let's go." Harry said, but sadly it wasn't going to be that simple. They hadn't gone more than a dozen paces when a doorknob rattled and something came shooting out of a classroom in front of them.

It was Peeves. He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight.

"Shut up, Peeves – please – you'll get us thrown out." Harry begged.

Peeves cackled. "Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."

"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please."

"Should tell Filch, I should," said Peeves in a saintly voice, but his eyes glittered wickedly. "It's for your own good, you know."

"Get out of the way," snapped Ron.

"No!" Riley yelled as Ron took a swipe at Peeves, he made a big mistake.

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Peeves bellowed, "STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!" Ducking under Peeves, they ran for their lives, right to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a door – and it was locked.

"This is it!" Ron moaned, as they pushed helplessly at the door, "We're done for! This is the end!"

"Well it's your own stupid fault! Who tries to hit Peeves when you're trying to get away? Honestly!" Riley rolled her eyes at Ron.

"Shut up, both of you." hissed Harry. They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could toward Peeves' shouts.

"Oh, move over." Hermione snarled. She grabbed Harry's wand, tapped the lock, and whispered, "Alohomora!" The lock clicked and the door swung open – they piled through it, shut it quickly, and pressed their ears against it, listening.

"Which way did they go, Peeves?" Filch was saying. "Quick, tell me."

"Say 'please.'"

"Don't mess with me, Peeves, now where did they go?"

"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please." said Peeves in his annoying singsong voice.

"All right -please."

"NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!" And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage.

"He thinks this door is locked, I think we'll be okay." Harry whispered.

"Um… Harry?" Riley asked staring fixedly at something in front of them.

"What?" Harry turned around - and saw, quite clearly, what. For a moment Riley thought he went into shock. That this was one thing too much, on top of everything that had happened so far, because they weren't in just any corridor, but the forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden.

They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. But that wasn't even the worst part, no the worst part was it had three heads. Three pairs of rolling mad eyes, three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction and three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.

It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Riley knew that the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise, but that in any moment, it would get over that and decide it wants to have a midnight snack.

Harry groped for the doorknob – between Filch and death, he'd take Filch.

Riley was too busy fighting between awe at what they found and horror at being trapped in a room with it. She figured she should probably distract it, as it was starting to growl menacingly. So she stuck her hands out in a placating way and said in a quivering whisper; "Nice three headed doggy…"

Finally Harry found the knob and they fell backward out the door – Harry slammed it shut, and they almost flew, back down the corridor. Filch must have hurried off to look for them somewhere else, because they didn't see him anywhere, but they hardly cared – all they wanted to do was put as much space as possible between them and that giant of a dog. They didn't stop running until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor.

"Where on earth have you all been?" she asked, looking at their bathrobes hanging off their shoulders and their flushed, sweaty faces.

"Never mind that – pig snout, pig snout." panted Harry, and the portrait swung forward. They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling, into armchairs.

It was a while before any of them said anything. Neville, indeed, looked as if he'd never speak again.

"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" said Ron finally. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."

Riley chuckled. Her mind was racing, knowing there had to be a reason a dog like that would be in the castle. Moony always told her she was too nosy for her own good.

Unfortunately Hermione had got both her breath and her bad temper back again.

"You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" she snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

"The floor?" Harry suggested. Riley burst into giggles again. She couldn't help it. She just found the whole thing hilarious."I wasn't looking at its feet; I was too busy with its heads."

"No, not the floor. It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something." She stood up, glaring at them. "I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed - or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed." Ron stared after her, his mouth open.

"No, we don't mind," he said. "You'd think we dragged her along, wouldn't you"

"I think someone needs to tell her, her priorities are a bit messed up" Riley said still giggling. The boys nodded.

A minute later Neville followed Hermione's example and went to bed. The three of them sat in silence for awhile then Ron turned to Riley.

"'Nice doggy?' really?" he said incredulously. It was quite for a second… then the three burst into laughter and didn't stop for a good ten minutes.

Later on Riley was lying in bed staring at nothing, going over everything that happened today… wondering what the dog was guarding…

_If every day here was going to be like that…_ she thought with a smile. _Well at least I won't be bored._

**~{}~**

**Review!  
><strong>


	6. Chapter 6 Roses are Red, Trolls are Blue

**EDIT: 1/30/2012**

**I honestly don't remember if I changed anything in this one other then grammar stuff… hmm… oh well! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything other then my OC's it all belongs to the lovely J.K Rowling**

* * *

><p><em>Chapter six: Rose are red, Trolls are blue<em>

Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Harry and Ron were still at Hogwarts the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful.

Indeed, by the next morning Harry, Ron and Riley thought that meeting the three-headed dog had been an excellent adventure, and they were quite keen to have another one. In the meantime, Harry filled Ron and Riley in about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection.

"It's either really valuable or really dangerous." said Ron.

"Or both." said Harry.

"Or dangerously valuable." Riley smirked.

"Why dangerously valuable?" Harry dared ask.

"Because valuably dangerous doesn't make sense." she said with a "Duh!" tone of voice. Harry just looked at Ron and shook his head. He doubted they would ever understand what goes on in her head.

As all they knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it was about two inches long, they didn't have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues.

Neither Neville nor Hermione showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. All Neville cared about was never going near the dog again. ("But Neville it was probably a really sweet dog – once you got past the 'I'm-going-to-eat-you' thing.")

Hermione was now refusing to speak to Harry and Ron, but she was such a bossy know-it-all that they saw this as an added bonus. Riley thought it was really mean of them but had to agree it was nice not having Hermione nag at her all the time now.

All they really wanted now was a way of getting back at Malfoy, and to their great delight, just such a thing arrived in the mail about a week later.

As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by a long, thin package carried by six large screech owls. Riley wasn't very amazed to see the owls soar down and drop it right in front of Harry, knocking his bacon to the floor. They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel. Harry ripped open the letter first, which was lucky, because it said:

DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE.

_It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock for your first training session._

_Professor McGonagall_

Harry looked positively gleeful as he handed the note to Ron and Riley to read.

"A Nimbus Two Thousand!" Ron moaned enviously. "I've never even touched one." They left the hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before their first class, but halfway across the entrance hall they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy seized the package from Harry and felt it.

"That's a broomstick," he said, throwing it back to Harry with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "You'll be in for it this time, Potter, first years aren't allowed them." Ron, of course, couldn't resist it.

"It's not any old broomstick," he said, "It's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" Ron grinned at Harry. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."

"What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped back. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig." Before Ron could answer, Riley had her wand out and pointed at Malfoy and Professor Flitwick appeared at Malfoy's elbow.

"Not arguing, I hope, children." he squeaked.

"Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor," said Malfoy quickly. Riley rolled hers eyes as she lowered her wand quickly so Flitwick wouldn't notice she had it out. _Tattle tail much?_

"Yes, yes, that's right," said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Harry. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?"

"A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir," said Harry, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy's face. Riley stuck her tongue out at him. Childish? Yes. But it's effective all the same. "And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it," Harry added.

Harry, Ron and Riley headed upstairs, smothering their laughter at Malfoy's obvious rage and confusion.

"Well, it's true." Harry chortled as they reached the top of the marble staircase, "If he hadn't stolen Neville's Remembrall I wouldn't be on the team..."

"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules." came an angry voice from just behind them. Hermione was stomping up the stairs, looking disapprovingly at the package in Harry's hand.

"Yes, yes we do. In fact it's not just for breaking the rules… but breaking the rules and _not_ getting caught." Riley replied with a sweet smile. Hermione just glared at her. That seemed to be the only reaction Riley could ever get out of the girl.

"I thought you weren't speaking to us." said Harry chuckling at Riley's comment.

"Yes, don't stop now;" said Ron, "it's doing us so much good." Hermione marched away with her nose in the air.

Riley turned to them as they got to the common room.

"Well boys, it's been lovely, but I got to run. Things to do… pranks to plan…" she trailed off walking backwards out the portrait hole.

Once she was gone Ron turned to Harry. "What about her classes?"

Harry shrugged.

**~{}~**

Riley walked down the corridors, slipping through hidden doors, down unseen staircases. Searching for the boys who could help her make this plan work. Finally she found them standing in a corridor behind a tapestry on the third floor watching a fifth year Ravenclaw trying to reverse the spell put on him to cause purple spots to appear every time he opened his mouth.

"Excuse me, good sirs." She whispered tapping them on their shoulders, making them jump. They spun around quickly and smiled when they saw who it was.

"Ah milady, what can we do for thee?" said Fred bowing.

"Well," she said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "I had this idea… and I was wondering if you could help…"

The twins grinned.

"Of course."

**~{}~**

That afternoon Riley came skipping into the Great Hall looking absolutely ecstatic. She skipped over to the table and sat down between the twins who immediately asked;

"So, did it work?"

Riley smiled. "Perfectly."

"Did what work?" Harry asked sitting down across from them with Ron.

"Oh, don't worry you'll see." Riley answered in a sing song voice.

Harry and Ron exchanged nervous glances.

Suddenly laughter started to break out through the hall, and the group looked up to see the Slytherins come marching into the hall, as each one stepped through the door they started to turn from their hair to their socks different shades of bright pink and purple.

"Ah yes, they seem to have decided on new house colors… I think they fit _much _better don't you?" Riley said trying to smother her laughter.

"Hm… I quite agree. What you think Fred?" George didn't even bother to try and hide his glee.

"Yes, it's defiantly their color. It levels out there brutish and knavish quite well don't you think?" said Fred.

Riley looked at him surprised.

"Knavish?"

"Hey," Fred said pouting. "I know stuff."

And with that the three of them burst into laughter. This was defiantly a job well done.

**~{}~**

The rest of the month went smoothly. So smoothly in fact, that Riley had gone into a sort of pattern. She went to classes, planned pranks at meals with the twins and Lee, set off the pranks, got into arguments with Malfoy and his cronies, got detention from Snape, did her homework with Ron and Harry, pranked some more, went to bed and started all over again in the morning.

She also started to notice which classes she was best at, now that they had moved on from the basics. She found charms to be her favorite subject because Professor Flitwick was such a happy and excited teacher and he always enjoyed her pranks. Not to mention Riley found she had a real knack for charms too.

She had also started to look up and do research on dark creatures. She had always liked learning about them and since Quirrell was such an awful teacher and had a horrible stutter, Riley didn't learn much from him and started to teach herself. Plus with all her pranks, she started to learn some very handy jinxes and hexes that could distract an enemy.

Potions turned out to be really easy for Riley. Snape hadn't had anything to criticize about her potions since her fourth lesson. But even so, he never complimented them either. He seemed to have decided that she was just as worthy of his undying hatred as Harry. Though they still didn't know why he hated them so much. Well, Riley knew why he hated _her_, seeing as she always caused trouble in his class. (Yet somehow, she was still able to finish her potions in time and correctly.) But his reason for hating Harry was still a mystery.

As for the rest of her classes, she wasn't terrible but she was no Hermione. She had managed to end up in the hospital wing five times already, because something in Herbology had bitten or scratched her. Professor Sprout had taken to making Riley work next to her so she could stop Riley getting hurt so much. And in Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall had to make sure she was separated from Ron and Harry so as to keep her from causing so much trouble.

Needless to say, Riley had already made a name for herself among the teachers and they seemed to be split down the middle on their feelings towards her. Half of them hated her and half seemed to love her.

**~{}~**

The days rolled on and before she knew it, Riley was waking up to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors and orange and black decorations all through the castle.

Halloween had arrived.

As they sat in Charms later that morning, Professor Flitwick announced that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly. Something they had all been dying to try since they'd seen him make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom.

Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Harry's partner was Seamus Finnigan and Riley was with Neville (she figured this way she could stop Neville hurting himself or someone else). Ron, however, was to be working with Hermione Granger. It was hard to tell whether Ron or Hermione was angrier about this. She hadn't spoken to any of them since the day Harry's broomstick had arrived.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too – never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

It wasn't very difficult. Riley had it on the third go. So she then proceeded to ask Flitwick what spell Baruffio said so she could try and get a buffalo to show. Sadly he refused to tell her. So instead, she sat and watched everyone else in the class, while giving Neville little tips and encouragement.

She was trying to boost his confidence so he could do well in class, but it was hard work, with Snape having a go at him every lesson. Otherwise, she thought Neville could be a spectacular wizard.

Seamus and Harry seemed to be getting nowhere and Seamus got so impatient that he prodded the feather with his wand and set fire to it – Harry had to put it out with his hat. Ron, at the next table, wasn't having much more luck.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.

"You're saying it wrong." Riley heard Hermione snap. Riley would have helped but she was too busy laughing at his ridiculous attempt. "It's Wing-_gar_-dium Levi-_o_-sa; make the 'gar' nice and long."

"You do it, then, if you're so clever." Ron snarled.

Riley had no doubt that he was going to regret that. Hermione hadn't even tried yet, but Riley would bet she was going to get it easy.

Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads. (See? she can be right sometimes...)

"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it too!"

Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of the class. "It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to Harry and Riley as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor. "She's a nightmare, honestly." Someone knocked into Harry as they hurried past him. It was Hermione. Riley caught a glimpse of her face – and was startled to see that she was in tears.

"I think she heard you."

"So?" said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."

"Ron! You are such a moron! She was just trying to help you." Riley said exasperated. He just looked even more uncomfortable and didn't reply. Riley huffed and started to walk after Hermione. Saying over her shoulder "You guys go to class. I'll go check on Hermione."

Riley chased her down to the girl's bathroom near the dungeons. She wasn't sure why she was going after Hermione, because she was never good at dealing with crying people.

Finally she caught up to the crying girl and knocked on the door. _Here goes nothing…_ Riley thought as she heard Hermione sniffle.

"Ron didn't mean it Hermione…"

Hermione scoffed.

"No, really he didn't. He's just a sore loser that's all… don't let him get you down." Riley smiled. _That wasn't so bad._

"Really?" she heard Hermione say quietly. "You mean he doesn't really think I'm a nightmare."

"No... Of course not…"

"Do you think I'm a nightmare?"

"No, I don't think you're a nightmare… a bit bossy, yes… well a more then a bit but—" Riley cut off when she heard Hermione start to cry again.

_Damn, my big mouth!_

"Look Hermione, I'm sorry. I'm really bad at this sort of thing." Riley started to explain but stopped when she smelled something awful. It was kind of like an outhouse that had been in the sun for a long time. Then she heard a low grunting, and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Riley looked to the door to see something huge was looking at her.

It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was dull, granite gray. Its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs, thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was also holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.

The troll peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, and then slouched slowly into the room. Suddenly the door slammed and the troll was no longer paying attention to her.

Riley decided to take advantage of its distraction, and started to walk slowly back towards the stall door Hermione was behind and whispered into the crack.

"Hermione, just stay calm, I need you to come out slowly. There's a troll in the bathroom with us."

But Hermione didn't listen instead of coming out slowly and quietly, she slammed the door open, looked at the troll, and screamed.

The door to the bathroom was pulled open suddenly and Harry and Ron ran in. Hermione had started to shrink against the wall opposite of them, looking as if she was about to faint. The troll was advancing on Riley, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went. And the only thing Riley could think was; _he smells awful!_

"Confuse it!" Riley heard Harry say desperately to Ron, and seizing a tap, he threw it as hard as he could against the wall.

The troll stopped a few feet from Riley. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Harry. It hesitated, and then made for him instead, lifting its club as it went.

That, more than anything broke Riley out of her daze. Grabbing her wand, she started shooting off every hex, jinx, curse and insult she knew (which admittedly, was not a lot. Not counting the insults) making it turn towards her again. The troll was starting to turn different colors and get a large amount of boils. Absently a part of Riley's brain was gawking at the fact that these spells were actually _working_ on the troll.

"Oy, pea-brain!" yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber as he threw a metal pipe at it. The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder. But it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout toward Ron instead, giving Harry even more time to run around it.

"Come on! Run, run!" Harry yelled at Hermione, while he and Riley tried to pull her toward the door, but she couldn't move. No, she _wouldn't_ move. She was still flat against the wall, her mouth open wide with terror.

"Really not the best time to freeze Hermione!" Riley yelled as she turned back to the troll to confuse it some more. The shouting and the echoes seemed to drive the troll berserk. It roared and started toward Ron again, who was nearest and had no way to escape.

Harry then did something that was both very brave and very stupid: He took a great running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind. The troll couldn't feel Harry hanging there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up its nose, and Harry's wand had still been in his hand when he'd jumped - it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils.

Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Harry clinging on for dear life; any second, the troll was going to rip him off or catch him a terrible blow with the club.

Hermione had sunk to the floor in fright, Riley was still trying to distract it and Ron pulled out his own wand – not knowing what he was going to do, he heard himself cry the first spell that came into his head: "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over – and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.

Harry got to his feet. He was shaking and out of breath. Ron was standing there with his wand still raised, staring at what he had done.

It was Riley who spoke first. She ran at Harry, tackle hugged him and then did the same to Ron babbling about how awesome they were and how she couldn't wait to tell the twins they all battled a troll.

"Is it – dead?" Hermione asked finally.

"I don't think so," said Harry, "I think it's just been knocked out."

He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy gray glue.

"Urgh - troll boogers." He wiped it on the troll's trousers.

A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the four of them look up.

They hadn't realized what a racket they had been making. But of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart.

Snape bent over the troll while Professor McGonagall was looking at Ron, Harry and Riley with eyes like steel. Professor McGonagall was angry, very angry. But Riley was sure it wasn't angry enough to expel them… She hoped.

"What on earth were you thinking of? And why is that troll blue?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice.

Riley looked at Harry and Ron seeing their looks of terror she realized they had never seen McGonagall this angry before. Riley had, of course seen her this angry before, when one of her pranks went wrong and five students ended up with broken bones from landing on each other; the timer on the charm to turn the main staircase into a slide went off too early.

"You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

Snape gave Riley and Harry a swift, piercing look. Riley looked away, he always made her uncomfortable with that stare.

Then a small voice came out of the shadows.

"Please, Professor McGonagall – they were looking for me."

"Miss Granger!" Hermione had managed to get to her feet at last.

"I went looking for the troll because I – I thought I could deal with it on my own – you know, because I've read all about them."

Ron dropped his wand, while Riley tried to pretend this wasn't all new to her. Still she was shocked; Hermione Granger, telling a downright lie to a teacher? It was hard to believe.

"If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose, Riley distracted it and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived." Harry and Ron looked completely shocked.

"Well – in that case..." said Professor McGonagall, staring hard at the four of them. "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"

Hermione hung her head. Riley was stilled shocked and promised Hermione in her head, that she would buy the girl as many sugar quills as she wanted the moment she had the chance.

"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses." Hermione left with her head hung low.

Professor McGonagall turned to Harry, Ron and Riley.

"Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go." They hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.

"We should have gotten more than fifteen points," Ron grumbled.

"Ten, you mean, once she's taken off Hermione's."

"Good of her to get us out of trouble like that." Ron admitted. "Mind you, we did save her."

"She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her." Harry reminded him.

"_You_ did that?" Riley asked them sharply. They looked at her sheepishly. "Thanks guys, it's so nice to know your friends lock you in a room with a TROLL!"

Riley glared at them for a moment, and then burst into laughter at the terror on their faces. She never knew she could be so scary. She kept laughing until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Pig snout." they said and entered.

The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Hermione, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for them. There was a very embarrassed pause. Then, none of them looking at each other, they all said "Thanks," and hurried off to get plates.

While the boys chatted, Riley ran over to the twins and Lee smiling brightly.

"You'll never guess what I just did." she said in a sing song voice.

"What?" Fred asked.

Riley leaned in closer to the boys and said in a conspiratorial tone of voice. "Fought a fully grown mountain troll with Harry and Ron."

The boys gaped at her, while Riley laughed. _Ah; it was so worth the faces!_

* * *

><p><strong>Review please!<strong>


	7. Chapter 7 Hogwarts Rules 1, 2 and 3

**EDIT: 1/31/2012**

**Yep…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter related all credit goes to J.K. Rowling**

_Chapter Seven; Hogwarts Rules 1, 2 and 3_

Riley, Fred and George were on the run. Filch right behind them.

They had just set off a nice trap for Filch in his office consisting of marshmallow whip, feathers and a very nicely transfigured beak. They knew if they were caught they were in for a world of trouble. Thus, the running for their lives.

Unfortunately it seemed lady luck was not on their side tonight, as they ran right into (and for Riley that was quite literal) the one and only Professor McGonagall.

"Oh, hello professor, lovely night isn't it?" Riley said innocently as she steadied herself.

"Yes, we were just coming back from a lovely walk around the castle." added Fred without a hint of mischievousness. Riley never thought she would see the day that _Fred Weasley_ would have not a hint of mischievousness on his face. It was quite scary really.

McGonagall gave them each a hard stare. The trio of pranksters had been trying to find the right name for that look, but the only thing that they had come up with, that had fit was; The McGonagall Death Stare. But that was much too long.

"Dumbledore's office. Now." she said sternly.

Riley turned to the twins, so as not to be victim to the McGonagall Death Stare any longer. "Right then, let us go forth good sirs."

She looped her arms with there's and the three of them started skipping down the corridor singing;

"We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Hogwarts. Because, because, because, because, because, because of the wonderful things he does!"

"And no singing!" yelled McGonagall with a sparkle of amusement in her eyes. No matter how many times she denied it, everyone knew McGonagall had a soft spot for the pranksters.

**~{}~**

When they got to the Headmasters office, Riley 'ooh'ed and 'ahh'ed at the secret staircase behind the gargoyle, and McGonagall lead them to a thick wooden door. McGonagall knocked three times, and waited.

"Come in."

They walked in and Riley couldn't help but gape. It was a big round room with a wide set of stairs behind an old mahogany desk, that lead to another part of the office and there was an entire section of wall dedicated to just books. There were also shelves and shelves of random do-dads and gadgets that smoked and made odd noises. Then the walls behind the desk and to the sides were covered in over a hundred paintings of old headmasters and headmistresses.

When Riley finally got over her shock, she walked up to the desk, bowed low and said "My Liege."

Fred and George did the same, causing some of the portraits to chuckle.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling madly.

"Don't encourage them Albus." McGonagall said severely. "There here to be punished. They set off another prank in Filches office. But this time they transfigured his mouth and nose into a beak."

She tried to hide it, but Riley heard the small hint of pride in her voice when she talked about the beak. And judging by the grins that were on the twins' faces, they had heard it too.

"Ah, I see." said Dumbledore eyes still twinkling, he smiled. "Well, I am afraid that is against the rules Messrs Weasley and Miss Langley. You will do a detention with Professor McGonagall, when she sees fit."

Riley swore she saw McGonagall roll her eyes. "You will be at my office at 8 o'clock tomorrow night. Do _not_ be late."

The three pranksters stood straight backed, feet together and with a chorused "Ma'am, yes Ma'am!" they saluted the Transfiguration teacher. Then turned on their heels and bowed to Dumbledore with a muttered "My Liege" they walked out the door, leaving the portraits laughing heartily in their wake.

**~{}~**

As they continued through November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains around the school became icy gray and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost. Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch field, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves, and enormous beaverskin boots.

Fred and George hadn't stopped asking Riley questions about the Battle with the Troll. And somehow every time she told it, something more dangerous happened and so by the twentieth time she told it. Riley, Harry and Ron had all been hit a couple of times with the club and had done some amazing fighting combo that knocked the troll out.

As the Quidditch season drew nearer, fewer pranks were pulled because Wood had Fred, George and Harry training every other day. So Riley was spending more time doing her homework with Hermione and Ron, exploring the castle and driving Filch insane. (On one of her late night explorations she found a passage that led from a corridor just outside the Gryffindor common room to right outside Filch's office.)

Hermione had become a bit more relaxed about breaking rules since Harry, Ron and Riley had saved her from the mountain troll, and she was much nicer for it. Though she still went head to head with Riley a lot, not approving of her pranks and how she made everything a joke. But Riley told her, if she didn't laugh, who would?

The day before Harry's first Quidditch match the four of them were out in the freezing courtyard during break, and she had conjured them up a bright blue fire that could be carried around in a jam jar.

They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard. Riley noticed at once that Snape was limping and that set off her ever curious mind. The group moved closer together to block the fire from view; they were sure it wouldn't be allowed. Unfortunately, something about their guilty faces caught Snape's eye.

Riley decided then that she needed to work on her innocent face. He hadn't seen the fire, but he seemed to be looking for a reason to tell them off anyway.

"What's that you've got there, Potter?" It was Quidditch Through the Ages. Harry showed him.

"Library books are not to be taken outside the school." said Snape. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor."

"He's just made that rule up." Harry muttered angrily as Snape limped away. "Wonder what's wrong with his leg?"

"Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him." said Ron bitterly.

"Now, now Ron. It's not right to wish _bodily_ harm on a teacher…" Riley said trying not to grin.

Ron and Harry looked at her suspiciously; while Hermione smiled thinking she finally taught Riley some morals.

"When causing them _mental_ harm is so much more fun!"

Ron and Harry laughed. As Hermione sighed, it was wishful thinking.

**~{}~**

The Gryffindor common room was very noisy that evening. Harry, Ron and Hermione sat together next to a window doing homework; While Riley was teaching Fred, George and Lee how to play poker at the table next to them.

"I fold." Lee said finally, looking mournfully at the pile of stuff in the middle of the table.

"Call!" George said with a smug grin on his face. He laid down his cards; he had a full house and Fred had three of a kind.

Riley smirked triumphantly. "Sorry boys, but you're not winning today."

She laid down a four of a kind, Kings.

"No!"

"Cheater!"

Riley laughed as she took all the loot from the middle of the table and counted it. She got fifteen Dung bombs, ten chocolate frogs, and seven small fireworks. While she was passing out cards again, Harry came sprinting into the common room (she hadn't even noticed he'd left) and straight over to where their group was.

"Did you get it?" Riley heard Ron ask as Harry joined them.

"What's the matter?" Riley asked confused.

In a low whisper, Harry told them that he had seen Snape's leg all bloody and that he heard him talking about how the three headed dog had done it.

"You know what this means." he finished breathlessly. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Halloween! That's where he was going when we saw him – he's after whatever it's guarding! And I'd bet my broomstick he let that troll in, to make a diversion!" Hermione's eyes were wide.

"No – he wouldn't," she said. "I know he's not very nice, but he wouldn't try and steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe."

"Honestly, Hermione, you think all teachers are saints or something," snapped Ron. "I'm with Harry. I wouldn't put anything past Snape. But what's he after? What's that dog guarding?"

"Well, what would Snape want?" Riley asked, folding and turning towards them.

"Something dangerous to torture students with, I bet." Ron said.

That made Riley chuckle. Really, she knew Snape wasn't a nice person at all. But she didn't believe he would torture his students… then again…

**~{}~**

The next morning dawned very bright and cold. The Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of fried sausages and the cheerful chatter of everyone looking forward to a good Quidditch match.

"You've got to eat some breakfast."

"I don't want anything."

"Just a bit of toast." wheedled Hermione.

"I'm not hungry." Harry looked terrible.

"Harry, you need your strength." said Seamus Finnigan. "Seekers are always the ones who get clobbered by the other team."

"Wow, Seamus! That's the most comforting thing I've ever heard." Riley said with cheerful sarcasm.

Seamus did the mature thing and stuck his tongue out at her while Dean Thomas his best friend laughed.

"Don't listen to them Harry you'll be great." Hermione said reassuringly as she piled food onto his plate.

"Yeah, look at it this way; if you get your skull pounded in by a bludger, at least you'll have girls going crazy over your battle wound and you'll have a fun story to go with it." Riley grinned at him while she munched on her bacon.

Hermione glared at her but really, what's new there?

By eleven o'clock the whole school seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. Many students had binoculars. The seats might be raised high in the air, but it was still difficult to see what was going on sometimes.

And while Ron and Hermione joined Neville, Seamus, and Dean up in the top row, Riley was under the stands laying out her fireworks and double checking the charms she put on them.

Suddenly she heard cheers.

"Good, their coming out to the field." she mumbled to herself, practically jumping with excitement.

She walked over to the side of the stands and saw them take off and start the game. Riley watched the Slytherin team scatter to their positions. It seemed that the captain Marcus Flint went for size rather than skill; Flint himself looked like he had some troll in him.

"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor – what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too –"

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry, Professor."

Riley was shaking with laughter at Lee's commentary, cheering him on when Professor McGonagall reprimanded him.

"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve – back to Johnson and – no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes – Flint flying like an eagle up there – he's going to sc- no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle – that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and – OUCH – that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger – Quaffle taken by the Slytherins – that's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goal posts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger – sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which – nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes – she's really flying – dodges a speeding Bludger – the goal posts are ahead – come on, now, Angelina – Keeper Bletchley dives – misses – GRYFFINDORS SCORE!" Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air, with howls and moans from the Slytherins.

Suddenly, seven glittering scarlet lions flew into the sky, roaring and baring their teeth as they charged down the Slytherins. Each one exploded as it hit a Slytherin player, singeing their hair and clothes, and covering them with red and gold glitter.

Everyone stopped in surprise. Then the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws burst into cheers. The teachers not being able to do anything let the game continue.

During all this Riley was rolling on the ground laughing. When she finally calmed down she went back to watching the game, she saw Harry circling the pitch, searching for the Snitch.

"Slytherin in possession," Lee Jordan was saying, "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys, and Chaser Bell, and speeds toward the – wait a moment – was that the Snitch?" A murmur ran through the crowd as Adrian Pucey dropped the Quaffle; too busy looking over his shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed his left ear.

Harry seemed to have seen it too; he dived downward after the streak of gold. Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs right on his tail. Neck and neck they hurtled toward the Snitch— all the Chasers seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing as they hung in midair to watch.

"Idiots!" Riley cried. "Don't stop just because they saw the Snitch!"

Harry was faster than Higgs – it was right in front of him – he put on an extra spurt of speed – WHAM! A roar of rage echoed from the Gryffindors below – Marcus Flint had blocked Harry on purpose, and Harry's broom spun off course, Harry holding on for dear life.

"Foul!" screamed the Gryffindors.

Riley was cursing so badly, she knew if Andy ever heard this she'd be getting her mouth washed out with soap.

Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and then ordered a free shot at the goal posts for Gryffindor. But in all the confusion, of course, the Golden Snitch had disappeared from sight again.

Meanwhile Riley had run up into the stands, yelling;

"Hit him with a Bludger George! Better yet hit him with your bat Fred!" Causing many in the stands around her to laugh and nod in agreement.

Meanwhile, Lee was finding it difficult not to take sides.

"So – after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating—"

"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall

"I mean, after that open and revolting foul—"

"Jordan, I'm warning you—"

"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to _anyone_, I'm sure. So a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble," more lions appeared. "And we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession."

After Riley ran out of fireworks she headed up to the teachers stands and took a seat in the far back. The teachers always had the best seats according to the twins, so Riley decided to sit with them. Luckily none of the teachers noticed her or they just didn't care.

"Slytherin in possession— Flint with the Quaffle— passes Spinnet— passes Bell— hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose— only joking, Professor— Slytherins score— A no..."

The Slytherins were cheering, and Riley was groaning. Then she noticed something… Harry's broom was behaving strangely. It was carrying him slowly higher, away from the game, jerking and twitching as it went.

Suddenly, people were pointing up at Harry all over the stands. His broom had started to roll over and over, with him only just managing to hold on. Then the whole crowd gasped. Harry's broom had given a wild jerk and Harry swung off it. He was now dangling from it, holding on with only one hand.

"Oh this is a lovely start to your Quidditch career Harry." Riley moaned as she looked around the teacher's box to see if she could do something.

Then she saw Hermione running up the stairs.

"Hermione what are you doing?" Riley called out as Hermione started to fight her way across the stand.

"It's Snape, he's Jinxing the broom!"

Hermione had fought her way across to the stand where Snape stood, and was now racing along the row behind him; she didn't even stop to say sorry as she knocked Professor Quirrell headfirst into the row in front.

Reaching Snape, she crouched down, pulled out her wand, and whispered a few, well-chosen words. Bright blue flames shot from her wand onto the hem of Snape's robes. It took perhaps thirty seconds for Snape to realize that he was on fire.

A sudden yelp told her she had done her job. Scooping the fire off him into a little jar in her pocket, she scrambled back along the row – Snape would never know what had happened.

It was enough. Up in the air, Harry was suddenly able to clamber back on to his broom.

"That was brilliant Hermione!" Riley said hugging Hermione quickly, then running back to where Ron and the others were.

Before they got there they heard screams and cheers and quickly looked over to see Harry was speeding toward the ground. Then they saw him clap his hand to his mouth as though he was about to be sick – he hit the field on all fours – coughed – and something gold fell into his hand.

"I've got the Snitch!" he shouted, waving it above his head, and the game ended in complete confusion.

Lee was happily shouting the results – Gryffindor had won by one hundred and seventy points to sixty. Everyone was celebrating Slytherins defeat.

But the quartet heard none of this. They were being made a cup of strong tea back in Hagrid's hut.

"It was Snape." Ron was explaining. "Hermione and I saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you."

"That doesn't technically mean anything though; he could have been saving Harry's life for all we know." Riley said, thanking Hagrid for the tea.

"Riley, he hates Harry." Ron was looking at her like she was stupid.

"So? He hates me too, but you don't see him trying to kill me." Riley said lazily, while she pet Fang.

She didn't know why she was defending Snape; she hated the man just as much as he hated her. But she just thought that it seemed kind of ridiculous to blame Snape with so little real evidence, Mad-Eye always said she would be a good Auror, because she liked to play devil's advocate. And look at things from all sides.

"Maybe he's going to go after you next." Ron replied gravely. Riley rolled her eyes.

"Rubbish," said Hagrid, who hadn't heard a word of what had gone on in the stands. "Why would Snape do somethin' like that?"

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at one another, wondering what to tell him. Harry decided on the truth.

"I found out something about him." he told Hagrid. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding." Hagrid dropped the teapot.

"How do you know about Fluffy?" he said.

_"Fluffy?" _Harry, Ron and Hermione looked incredulous. Riley looked like Christmas had just come early.

"Yeah – he's mine – bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year – I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the—"

"Yes?" said Harry eagerly.

"Now, don't ask me anymore." said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."

"But Snape's trying to steal it."

"Rubbish," said Hagrid again. "Snape's a Hogwarts teacher; he'd do nothin' of the sort."

"So why did he just try and kill Harry?" cried Hermione.

The afternoon's events certainly seemed to have changed her mind about Snape.  
>"I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid. I've read all about them! You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him!"<p>

"The same could be said about counter-jinxes Hermione." Riley said sighing, and she thought Hermione would see things logically.

"I know what I'm talking about, Langley." Hermione said forcefully, Harry and Ron nodding with her.

Riley blinked.

"Obviously you don't." she mumbled to herself, but out loud she said coldly. "Whatever you say Granger, because we all know you could never be wrong."

"_I'm_ tellin' yeh, yer wrong!" said Hagrid hotly. "I don' know why Harry's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now, listen to me, all four of yeh – yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel –"

"Aha!" said Harry, "so there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved, is there." Hagrid looked furious with himself.

**~{}~**

It was later in that evening, in the common room, that the four first years sat in front of the fire. Two playing chess, one studying and the last was sketching something.

Harry kept glancing between Riley and Hermione. Both had been giving the other the cold shoulder since they had left Hagrid's. Harry had never seen Riley act like this before. Sure she and Hermione would fight but usually Riley would just brush off insults or pretend like nothing happened. But somehow this time was different and now they weren't talking to each other…

He sighed, _Girls are weird._

**~{}~**

The next morning, Riley was sitting with Fred, George and Lee. She wasn't angry at Hermione anymore, but she knew that Hermione was still mad at her. So she decided to stick around with the twins and Lee until Hermione cooled down.

"So, men." Riley commanded, as if talking to soldiers. "I have a plan."

"Oh? It wouldn't have anything to do with charming all Hermione's books to bite her would it?" Fred said while grabbing some eggs.

Riley raised an eyebrow at him. "No… but that's a good idea. We should remember that."

"Yeah, so why are you mad at her?" asked George, who was waging war with the strawberry jelly that didn't want to stay on his knife.

"Because, she's an infuriating know-it-all that thinks she is never wrong." Riley replied casually, waving her fork around dangerously.

"Ah… So what's this plan you have?" Lee asked trying to steer the conversation away from the fight. Riley smiled thankfully at him.

"Right so…"

**~{}~**

Thirty minutes later Riley was standing on the table, trying to get everyone's attention.

"Miss Langley, get down from there right now!" she heard McGonagall yell.

Riley smiled sweetly at her head of house. "Just one moment professor. I need to make an announcement."

McGonagall looked like she was going to say something, but Dumbledore stopped her, looking curious to see what Riley had planned.

"In the two and a half months I've been here," Riley started, talking loud and clear so the whole hall could hear. "I've noticed that Slytherin house seems to be pretty depressed and angry. And then I thought; 'what better way to cheer them up, then to give them all nice big hugs? Because everyone feels happy after a hug.' So in the name of making Slytherin house a happier place. I declare today, the twentieth of November the official 'Hug a Slytherin Day!'"

Cheers and laughter erupted from the hall. As Riley stepped down from the table she leaned in close to the boys.

"So did you do it?" she whispered.

"Yep, the speech was just long enough to get them all." George grinned evilly.

The four pranksters high-fived and walked to their separate classes slowly, to enjoy watching the results of their prank.

As the Slytherins started to get up from the table they found themselves overcome with the desire to hug the person next to them. As the day wore on every Slytherin was overcome with this mysterious urge to hug any person within five feet of them. By the end of the day every Slytherin had been hugged at least twenty times.

And Hug a Slytherin Day became an official holiday at Hogwarts.

**~{}~**

_**So I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm bashing on Hermione, but I'm not. I'm just trying to show the relationship she has with Riley. **_

_**I figured they would butt heads constantly because Hermione is very all about the rules and everything by the book. Where as Riley is completely different; she's all about breaking the rules, and is very open minded about things and try's to look at all the possibilities in life. **_

_**So I figured that would cause some stress in her and Hermione's friendship. But don't worry that will change a little bit later. Anyway thank you for reading please let me know what you think... bye :)**_


	8. Chapter 8 Christmas Carols

_**Hello, my dear readers! I would like to thank everyone for alerting, favoriting and reviewing. It brightens my day when I get a little email that says someone else has reviewed or alerted. :) I hope you enjoy this chapter.**_

**EDIT: 1/31/2012**

**Yeah, that's right. I got this one done today too. :D I should be uploading new chapters in no time. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter related except my OC's**

* * *

><p><em>Chapter Eight; Christmas Carols and Unexpected Fears<em>

It was getting close to Christmas, and one morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow, and the Lake frozen solid.

The Weasley twins and Riley had been punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban and the few owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy sky to deliver mail had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again.

No one could wait for the holidays to start. While the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall had roaring fires, the drafty corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms.

Worst of all were Professor Snape's classes down in the dungeons, where their breath rose in a mist before them and they kept as close as possible to their hot cauldrons.

Riley had gotten into trouble multiple times for singing Christmas carols, loudly, during class. Some of the teachers, like Flitwick and Sprout enjoyed the carols and would often sing with her, but others, namely Snape would take points every time she started and then give her detention when she proceeded to sing "You're a mean one, Mister Grinch". And yet she still asked why Snape seemed to hate her so much…

"I do feel so sorry," said Draco Malfoy, one Potions class. "For all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home." He was looking over at Harry as he spoke. Crabbe and Goyle chuckled.

Harry, who was measuring out powdered spine of lionfish, ignored them. But Riley always having a short temper came to his defense.

"Hey Malfoy, don't most snakes hibernate in the winter? I thought they did. So maybe you should go slither on back into the hole you came from."

Malfoy sneered at her. Luckily for her, Snape didn't hear her so she didn't get points deducted.

Malfoy had been even more unpleasant than usual since the Quidditch match. Disgusted that the Slytherins had lost, he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Harry as Seeker next. Then he'd realized that nobody found this funny, because they were all so impressed at the way Harry had managed to stay on his bucking broomstick. So Malfoy, jealous and angry, had gone back to taunting Harry about having no proper family.

But it seemed to Riley that Harry really couldn't care less. In fact, he seemed to be excited about staying. Ron was staying too, along with the rest of the Weasley brothers, because Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny (the youngest and only daughter) were going to Romania to visit the second oldest brother Charlie, who was working with dragons. Riley and Hermione were going home to celebrate.

When they left the dungeons at the end of Potions, they found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffing sound told them that Hagrid was behind it.

"Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asked, sticking his head through the branches.

"Nah, I'm all right. Thanks, Ron."

"Would you mind moving out of the way." came Malfoy's cold drawl from behind them. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts. I suppose – that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to." Ron dived at Malfoy just as Snape came up the stairs.

"WEASLEY!" Ron let go of the front of Malfoy's robes.

"He was provoked, Professor Snape." said Hagrid, sticking his huge hairy face out from behind the tree. "Malfoy was insultin' his family."

"Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, Hagrid." said Snape silkily. "Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you." Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle pushed roughly past the tree, scattering needles everywhere and smirking.

"What about Malfoy? He was insulting Ron's family. You can't just let him get away with that!" Riley glared at Snape ignoring the warning looks Hagrid and the others were sending her.

"Are you questioning my authority?" Snape asked in that same silky voice, that creeped her out. "Ten points from Gryffindor and a detention Miss. Langley." and with an evil smirk that could have any evil villain running for the hills, he walked away his cloak billowing behind him making him look more like a bat then Riley ever thought was possible.

"I'll get him," said Ron, grinding his teeth at Malfoy's back. "One of these days, I'll get him –"

"I hate them both," said Harry. "Malfoy and Snape."

Riley nodded in agreement.

"Come on, cheer up, it's nearly Christmas." said Hagrid. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."

So the four of them followed Hagrid and his tree off to the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were busy with the Christmas decorations.

"Ah, Hagrid, the last tree – put it in the far corner, would you?" The hall looked spectacular. No less than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles, and hanging around on the walls were festoons of holly and to Riley's horror, mistletoe. For a moment Riley just stared. Then she let out a terrible scream and ran from the room, leaving behind a very bewildered group.

"What was that about?" Harry asked no one in particular.

"Oh that?" asked George who seemed to materialize out of nowhere.

"She's horribly afraid of mistletoe." Fred said gravely shaking his head.

The trio looked at him incredulously.

George nodded, looking grim. "Yeah, we tried to help her through it… but she's deathly afraid of it."

Ron looked towards the door "She's mental that one."

Harry and Hermione nodded and walked over to help Hagrid.

**~{}~**

After Riley got out of the Great Hall, she walked around until she calmed down and decided to go to the library.

She had been helping the trio search for Flamel's name ever since Hagrid had let it slip, because "How else are we going to find out what Snape is trying to steal?" as Harry had told her hundreds of times.

The trouble was, it was very hard to know where to begin. Not knowing what Flamel might have done to get himself into a book. He wasn't in _Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century_, or _Notable Magical Names of Our Time_; he was missing, too, from _Important Modern Magical Discoveries_, and _A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry_. And then, of course, there was the sheer size of the library; tens of thousands of books; thousands of shelves; hundreds of narrow rows.

After awhile the trio joined Riley in her search. Hermione took out a list of subjects and titles she had decided to search while Ron strode off down a row of books and started pulling them off the shelves at random like Riley.

Riley giggled as she watched Madam Pince brandish her feather duster at Harry and kick him out of the library, just because he got too close to the Restricted Section. Despite that, Riley, Ron and Hermione kept searching for a little while but left after getting frustrated at not finding anything.

When they met Harry outside the door, Riley looked seriously at him and asked.

"Are you hurt?"

When Harry looked confused she continued.

"Well, who knows how much damage Madam Pince's _Feather Duster of Doom_ can do to someone?" Riley tried to keep a straight face but found it impossible and burst into giggles along with Ron and Harry while they went off to lunch.

"You will keep looking while me and Riley are away, won't you?" Hermione asked the boys. "And send us an owl if you find anything?"

"And you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is." said Ron. "It'd be safe to ask them."

"Very safe, as they're both dentists." said Hermione.

"What about you Riley? Reckon your aunt might know who he is?" Ron asked

"Maybe… I might ask my godfather, he's like an adult, male version of Hermione." Riley laughed, Hermione scowled. "What? Don't scowl. It's a complement. Well, for you it is…"

Seeing as she confused the group again she explained.

_I seem to be confusing them a lot today._ Riley thought absently, _does that say something about me or them? _

"My godfather was a prefect. He always had top grades and was a teacher's pet…" they nodded understanding now. "But don't let that fool you… he's as much a trouble maker as me, if not more so."

**~{}~**

When Riley got off the Hogwarts express two days later it was to find her favorite person in the world waiting for her.

It had only been a year since the ministry decided that it was up to her, whether she wanted to see him or not. They figured she was old enough now, to know not to be around a werewolf. And she took full advantage of their ignorance; she stayed with him almost every weekend and every weekend they did something new, crazy, and fun.

The last weekend that she stayed at his house, they went hiking and found a waterfall with a swimming hole. They spent hours there just goofing around.

Riley jumped out of the train and ran at her godfather, almost knocking him to the ground with her tackle hug.

"MOONY!" Riley yelled happily. "What are you doing here? I thought you had to work."

Remus smiled his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Well, my boss changed his mind. Seemed to think it was better to just close up for the holidays."

Riley looked at him shrewdly. "What did you do? Did you use the Marauder Charm?"

Remus just laughed and winked. "Can't tell you that now, can I?"

The Marauder Charm is what Riley named Remus' crazy skills at persuading people to do something or believe his innocence. It wasn't a real charm, just a skill he picked up after many attempts at getting out of detention. It also helped with getting jobs, since no one wanted to associate with a werewolf.

After they picked up Riley's trunk, they dodged and weaved through the crowded train station to get to the parking lot.

"Oh, did you barrow Uncle Ted's car?" Riley asked Remus as they walked down the long row of cars.

"Didn't I tell you?" Remus asked looking mildly surprised. "I got a car last month. It's a lot better than taking a bus and since I work at a muggle bookshop, it wouldn't be smart to appearate. The Magical Law Enforcement tends to look down on things like popping up out of nowhere on a busy muggle street."

Riley grinned as they stopped in front of an old beat up blue Cadillac. "It's awesome!"

**~{}~**

The drive to the cottage was a long one, but it wasn't boring. Riley told Remus about all her pranks and adventures (making sure to leave out anything that involved Fluffy or what it was guarding,) and how she was doing really well in Potions, because she knew it ticked Snape off. But mostly she talked about her friends.

Remus seemed oddly interested in Harry but she just shrugged it off and filed it in the back of her mind to ask him about later.

When they finally got to the cottage, Riley got out smiled; she was home.

It was a small and homey little cottage. It looked like one of those little houses you see in the Christmas specials that you go "oh, that place looks so cozy" with its red door and window panes and the smooth gray stones that made the walls.

The whole place seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. It was surrounded by snow covered woods with a little frozen creek that ran on the left side of the house at the edge of the trees.

"Home again, home again."

Riley sighed as she dragged her trunk into the living room. The fire place was roaring and the mantle was covered in garland. There was a nice sized pine tree sitting in the corner waiting to be decorated and there was the smell of cookies wafting in from the kitchen.

Riley dropped her trunk and rushed to the kitchen quickly hugging Andromeda and snatching a cookie from the counter.

"Well, hello to you too." Andromeda smiled, and then smacked Riley on the arm with a wooden spoon. "Those are for _after_ dinner."

Riley just grinned cheekily at her, and stuck out her tongue which still had cookie on it. "Want it?"

She laughed as Andromeda grimaced and smacked her with the spoon again.

"I feel so loved." she cried dramatically. Andromeda just rolled her eyes and turned to Remus.

"It's your fault she's like this, you know."

Remus raised his eyebrows. "My fault?"

Andromeda just rolled her eyes again. "Yes, your fault. She was all sweet and innocent before she went to stay with you."

Remus and Riley laughed. "Oh, she was never innocent; I still remember when she used to con Mad-Eye out of a cookie."

Andromeda sighed. "Yes, with skills you taught her. I always told Isaac you were a bad influence on her."

"I'm wounded." Remus said grabbing at his heart. "I was a Prefect if you remember."

"And I still think Dumbledore was insane for making you one. I mean look at how you've corrupted Riley."

Riley smirked. "Aw, come on Andy. You know you miss having a trouble maker in the house."

"Not likely." Andy said dryly as she started to mix the mashed potatoes.

**~{}~**

The rest of the days leading up to Christmas went by with lots of laughter, mischief and driving Andromeda insane. Tonks came over every night and dragged Mad-Eye with her, and they all decorated the tree.

Well, everyone but Mad-Eye did because he was too busy giving them a lesson in CONSTANT VIGILANCE… Christmas style. Although, learning how to check your presents for something dangerous without opening them started a whole new guessing game.

Riley woke Christmas morning to the sound of Tonks singing Christmas carols loudly… and badly.

"Tonks! For the love of all that is right and holy in this world, please stop singing!" Riley yelled as she dragged herself out of her bed. She could hear Tonks and Ted laughing downstairs.

"Get down here Riley! You got presents!"

Riley quickly put on her Father Christmas hat and ran down the stairs. She smiled brightly at Tonks and her Uncle Ted and looked at the tree to see a huge pile of gifts lying innocently under the ornament covered branches.

They spent hours opening all there presents, mostly because of the game. Riley passed them out as she picked them up from under the tree. Remus and Mad-Eye showed up halfway into the present opening, and added theirs to the pile.

Four hours and an intense wrapping paper war later, found the small makeshift family eating Christmas dinner together.

And after long conversation, some prank ideas, a heated debate about which Christmas villain is the coolest and a cup of hot chocolate, Riley was off to bed. She climbed into bed and fell asleep to the odd feeling that this was going to be the last holiday like this for a very long time.

**~{}~**

A couple of days later, Riley packed up her stuff and headed out the door. She and Remus were going to the mountains for the rest of the holiday.

They drove for hours to get to a patch of woods in the middle of nowhere, and Riley couldn't wait to explore. The cabin was just big enough for the two of them with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a small kitchenette connected to the living room.

After a day of playing games and hiking around with Remus, Riley got ready to go exploring on her own.

She grabbed her favorite, bright yellow hooded sweatshirt and put her coat on over that. Then she went into the living room and grabbed her backpack to check to make sure she had everything.

She had only packed a couple granola bars, a bottle of water, a flashlight, her wand (just in case), a pocket knife and a compass. She wasn't planning to be gone very long, but with her luck, you never knew what would happen. Slipping on her hiking boots she waved goodbye to Remus and headed out into the snowy forest.

She walked for what seemed like hours, she was probably around 7 miles from the cabin when she started to hear crashes, and a sort of grunting and gurgling. When she walked closer she heard the grunt/gurgle again, and another voice reply in the same grunt/gurgle. When she looked around the trees, there standing in the field were two giants.

**~{}~**


	9. Chapter 9 Those Stories

**Hello Lovelies! Welcome to chapter 9! I think this one is actually my favorite chapter because it was so much fun to write. :) I'm sorry that it's kind of choppy but... well, you'll see. Anyways enjoy!**

**EDIT: 1/31/2012**

**Here's another.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing Harry Potter related!**

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><p><em>Chapter Nine; Those Stories That No One Ever Believes Are True.<em>

Riley was running for her life.

Not the Running-For-Her-Life-Bcause-She-Just-Set-Off-A-Crazy-Awesome-Prank, but the Running-For-Her-Life-Because-The-Giants-Are-After-Her-And-If-She's-Caught-She-Will-Be-Eatin. And she really didn't think she would make a good soup, not that there was anything wrong with a good soup. You can do a lot with soup and everybody likes soup. But Riley wanted to be a pie. Because everybody doesn't _like_ pie… they _love _pie. Pie is the thing that everyone looks forward to at the end of the meal. Pie is the thing that people make candles smell like, because people really can't get enough of pie. So yes, Riley often thought she would make a good pie, and if they just added a sprinkle of brown sugar—

CRASH!

_Right! Not the time._ Riley thought starting to run a little faster. She had been running for about ten minutes now. Jumping over rocks, zigzagging through trees, hoping with all her might that she might just lose these two very angry and very hungry giants.

It seemed luck was on her side today though, because just as she heard another tree fall about 500ft behind her, she jump down a hill and found a cave just small enough that the two twenty foot tall beings could not follow her in. So clambering over the rocks as quickly as she could, Riley slid into a small crevice just inside the mouth of the cave.

She didn't have to wait long as the giants stopped in front of the cave and tried to smell her out. But after running through a couple creeks in order to lose her sent trail, she was soaked and with the musty smell of the cave, even the giants couldn't smell her out.

When they finally gave up and moved on, Riley waited a couple minutes before sighing with relief and sliding back out of the crevice. She collapsed on a rock in the mouth of the cave, just realizing how exhausted and freezing she was.

She was very glad that the sun provided some heat and that she wasn't quite as wet as she was a few minutes ago. She figured the only reason she wasn't hypothermic at the moment, was because all the running she did was keeping her blood moving. Now though, she was shivering like mad. So gathering what was left of her strength, she started to gather wood, and after awhile she had a small fire going to help warm herself up.

She was so lost in thoughts of how she was going to find her way back, that she didn't notice the ten foot tall giant that sat down next to her and stared at her like he never before seen anything like her. When she did realize that there was something staring at her she looked up at it slowly, not comprehending at first then-

"Aaahhhhhhhh!" she screamed, causing the giant to scream too. For a good five minutes they sat and screamed. Finally Riley stopped. She collapsed to her knees; put her hands together and started pleading with the very confused giant saying things like "I'm too young to die! I haven't even broken Moony's detention record yet!" and "If you're going to eat me then at least turn me into a pie or a cake, I don't deserve to be just a simple soup!" She stopped when she realized he wasn't doing anything.

He was a rather small giant, (and no, the irony was not lost on her) he seemed to have made a type of kilt out of some bear pelts. And unlike the vicious glint in the other giants' eyes, this one's eyes held nothing but kindness and curiosity.

After a minute or two of sizing each other up, the giant reached behind him and pulled a smaller bear pelt out from behind him and held it out to Riley. Riley cautiously took it and wrapped herself with it. Enjoying the warmth of the fur and the fire, the two sat in silence until about noon, when Riley decided it was time she got moving.

She really wanted to take the pelt with her, but she couldn't afford to hold it while she walked. Then she got an idea.

She dug into her pockets and found her knife; she poked a couple holes into the pelt, and then cut out the strings to her hood— she always found them annoying anyways. After she did that, she put the strings through the holes in the pelt so she ended up wearing the fur as a cloak.

Riley grinned at the giant, who had been watching her make her cloak and stood up.

"Well, I'd best be off!" she said still grinning. "Thanks for the fur and letting me hang out. But I've got to find my way back to my place before dark. See ya!"

But as she started to walk away, the giant began to cry. Riley spun around quickly and rushed back over. Patting the giant on the knee, (she couldn't exactly reach his arm) she shushed him.

"Don't cry big guy! Uh... I'm sure we'll uh… meet again" Riley said slightly panicky at being the cause of crying giant.

When the giant stopped crying, Riley sat back down and started to talk to him. She talked for hours, about everything under the sun until finally, he fell asleep. Riley sighed in relief then quickly grabbed her stuff, tightened her bear fur cloak, and walked back out into the woods hopelessly trying to find her way back.

**~{}~**

Darkness had fallen and still Riley had no idea where she was. After a little more walking she decided to camp for the night. So after conveniently finding a big hallow tree. Riley climbed in, curled up and fell asleep.

She woke up to the sun in her eyes and the sound of something huffing and snuffling. She slowly and carefully opened her eyes and saw what seemed to be a huge spectral hound.

Riley climbed out of the tree slowly and stared at it… And it stared back… And she stared at it some more… and it stared back… this continued for quite some time until finally the dog blinked.

"Ha!" Riley yelled, pointing at the dog and jumping around. "I win! Yes!"

The dog growled and Riley glared at it.

"No need to be a sour puss, ya know."

The dog growled again, and Riley stuck her tongue out at it. It barked at her and she laughed.

"No way! I've got places to go, ya know? I can't stay here all day and watch you lose more staring contests."

The Gytrash (or at least that's what she thought it was) huffed and curled up in the tree Riley had been occupying a few minutes earlier. Riley just shook her head and started her trek back to where she hoped was the cabin.

It was only after she was about a mile away that she realized just how odd that had been.

**~{}~**

It was about midday, by the time Riley had found herself in another predicament.

She had been wondering along, humming some song or another, when she found herself surrounded by mistletoe. Not just any mistletoe. But giant bushels of the evil stuff. (Vaguely Riley wondered what it was with everything being _bigger_ then her lately.)

Riley froze. She stood frozen in fear of the most evil plant ever to grow on this earth, until she heard a rustling from the bushes next to her. A boy that looked about fifteen fell out of the bush.

He looked like the definition of a mountain man. Worn out boots, torn up jeans, self-made fur coat, and brown hair even wilder then Riley's own. The boy stumbled over to right outside the circle of mistletoe, before Riley called to him in a panicky whisper.

"Stop! Don't move… they can't see you if you don't move…"

The boy looked at her confused. "What are you talking about?"

"The mistletoe! The-Most-Evil-Plant-To-Ever-Grow-On-This-Earth sitting in front of you!"

The boy looked at her like she was crazy (which, she thought. she probably was.) and walked past the mistletoe. Suddenly the mistletoe changed to multiple full moon-like things.

The boy realizing that they were facing a bunch of Boggarts, grabbed Riley by the arm and with a cry of "Oh, bloody hell!" started to run back the way he came, dragging Riley behind him. They came stumbling and panting into a small camp of more mountain man like people.

Riley looked around with raised eyebrows. There were little army tents scattered around the field, most everyone were around a small fire in the middle of the camp site. There were about ten or so people and they all looked like a rather beat up group. Some were limping; some had bandages around their arms or heads. They all looked up when she and the boy had stumbled in.

"Where's the war?" she asked then turned to the boy. "Where are we? And for that matter who are you?"

The boy looked surprised for a moment then said in a soft voice.

"Oh! Right I'm Leo. And this is my werewolf clan… Rawer..." he looked at her like he was waiting for her to scream and start running around like a chicken with its head cut off. But Riley just smiled and replied cheerfully.

"Really? I am too!" and with that she changed into a little, bright red fox, and ran around him, snapping at his heels and growling playfully.

Leo looking very confused, but still amused, just smiled and shook his head. "Ah… Not quite."

Riley pouted and turned back. She almost fell over when she was suddenly overcome with fatigue. Though she had been an animangus since she was born, it always took a lot of energy for her to change. Although she did notice that as she got older and learned more magic, it seemed to take less and less energy.

"You wouldn't have anything to eat would you? I'm starved." she said swaying slightly.

Leo looked at her confused at the sudden loss of energy.

"Eh? Side effect." She said with a smile, as if that explained everything.

When he still looked confused, she just shrugged at him. Walking over to the campfire, she started to chatter happily at the people around it.

**~{}~**

After swapping stories and eating more the enough. Riley got ready to move on. She made sure to pick up her new pet mouse and put him in her pocket.

His name was Elephant; he was a shape-shifter, but always stayed the size of a mouse. He was also periwinkle and got mad if you called him anything different. Apparently he had been annoying the group of werewolves, because he kept turning into a miniature dragon and singeing their eyebrows with his fire. And after talking to Riley for awhile, they thought she would like him.

The pack also let her use an owl so she could send a message to Remus to let him know she was okay. Though she knew, no matter what had happened to her. She was in HUGE trouble.

After the pack leader pointed Riley in the right direction— which surprisingly was the way she was going before, she said goodbye and headed on her way. She was doing really well too. She hadn't run into anything for a long time and she still had a couple of granola bars to munch on. That is… until she quite literally walked into a chimera.

Now as Riley looked back on this, she would realize— or at least people would tell her, that this chimera had to be in a good mood. (Maybe it had just had some pie…) But at that moment she would really doubt that.

The giant lions head swerved around to see what creature dared to bump into it, and Riley's first thought was; _how the __hell__ did a goat, a dragon and a lion mate?_ Though most would say that wasn't the time to be thinking something like that, Riley thought it was a _very_ good question.

When the chimera opened its maw, and let out a very scary roar. Riley decided her best course of action was to turn into something small and run.

So pulling Elephant out of her pocket and telling him to fly, (He quickly turned into a tiny hawk and flew away) Riley changed for the second time that day into a small red fox and ran for it.

Sadly luck was not on her side this time, because when the chimera (let's call it Chi) let it's fire loose, Riley was sadly not able to move fast enough and her whole tail, right leg (she still wondered how her left leg came out of that unscathed) and back got burned.

But Riley ignored the excruciating pain and kept running until she finally lost Chi and collapsed, turned back to human and promptly feinted.

**~{}~**

She woke up the next morning in more than a little pain, lying on her back in a very pretty clearing. There were wild daisies and violets scattered all through the clearing. Little bees buzzing from flower to flower, It was really rather picturesque. But that wasn't what caught her attention. No what she noticed first was that she seemed to be surrounded by horses… except they weren't horses, they were centaurs.

"Greetings, young one." Said a friendly voice.

Riley turned to see a beautiful black stallion… or at least half of one. The other half of the stallion was of a very friendly looking man, who smiled sweetly at her.

"Why have you trespassed on our land?" said a white centaur next to the black one. It was just as beautiful as the first, but all Riley saw in his face was cold indifference, and a sneer that kind of reminded her of Malfoy.

"Is it opposite day?" Riley asked, still a bit groggy from the pain and waking up.

"Excuse me?" the black one asked, politely confused.

"Well, isn't the white one suppose to be good and the black one bad?" she asked innocently.

Vaguely she figured she should be careful since centaurs are known to be very prideful creatures. But between the pain, grogginess and confusion; she really couldn't bring herself to care.

There was silence… then the black one burst into laughter.

"I told you Nolan, your spirit does not fit your color." he said still chuckling.

"Be quite Kane!" Nolan snapped.

"Excuse me." Riley interrupted there banter, having just realized something "What's today?"

"It is the third day of the first month of the one thousand, nine hundred and ninety second year." Replied Kane in that odd centaur way.

Riley sat there a moment and thought. Finally deciding that he meant it was January third. Then she started to panic.

"Oh no, I have to be at Hogwarts by tonight or I'll be expelled! I can't be expelled for something like this! I swore that if I was to be expelled it would be because I gave Filch a heart attack because of one of my pranks." Riley's rant continued as Kane watched her in amusement and Nolan watched in disdain.

"Hush young one. I will take you to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. If you ride upon my back it will be faster and less painful for you."

Trying to ignore Nolan's cries of indignation at having a human ride on Kane's back like he was a common mule, and all the innuendos from Kane's sentence. Riley climbed onto the centaurs back and happily noted that Elephant had found her again and was sitting on Kane's head. When Riley got settled, they took off at incredible speeds.

**~{}~**

The ride was surprisingly short and before she knew it; Riley, Kane and Nolan had made it to the Forbidden Forest. Luckily they didn't run into any other creatures and soon they were bursting through the trees, stopping in front of a very shocked Hagrid.

After Riley clambered off Kane's back with Elephant in her hand, she turned to say good-bye.

"We must leave you here young one." Kane said smiling at her.

"Yes, good bye, human." Nolan sneered.

Riley grinned and winked at Kane. Walking over to Nolan, she started to pet him.

"Good-bye, nice horsy."

Nolan started to shout at her, while Kane roared with laughter. As Riley stood there she could here Nolan yelling and Kane laughing all the way through the forest. Riley smiled at Hagrid's disbelieving face and told him she explain later.

As she limped to the Hospital wing, she couldn't help but think that her friends were _never_ going to believe this.

**~{}~**

**So I hope you liked the chapter. It was just something random that me and my brother thought would be entertaining. Any who please review! **

**Until next time ttfn!**


	10. Chapter 10 As Time Passes By

_**I know, I know, I'm so sorry it's taken so long. I know that no one really wants to hear my excuses, so I will let you move on to the story. Just one thing... THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE! It always makes my day to see one of those lovely emails letting me know that someone else enjoyed my story. So ONWARD TO THE STORY!**_

**EDIT: 2/1/2012**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter, and I highly doubt I ever will.**

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><p><em>Chapter Ten: As Time Passes By<em>

Riley was lying in the Hospital wing, staring at the ceiling.

She was bored.

Now anyone who knew Riley would know that the most dangerous land for Riley to be in was boredom land. The last time she was bored, Professor Flitwick spent a week trying to undo whatever spell she put on the coats of armor to make them go around the school, picking random people and making them do scenes from Broadway plays with them.

Though it was entertaining to see Malfoy forced to do a scene from CATS, it was less entertaining when it caused multiple students to be late for class. Though, Flitwick had actually given her extra credit points, saying that it was a really good bit of magic for a first year.

But after many an attempt to escape the "Prison" (Hospital Wing), Madam Pomfrey had resorted to chaining her legs to the bed. So now not only was she bored, but her legs were stiff.

She had already had a visit from Hermione, Ron, Harry and the twins but they got kicked out after the "Warden" decided they were making too much noise.

Luckily though, when Remus came to visit he seemed too worried about Riley's health to scold her for not being careful. Sadly Andromeda was not so easily distracted, and Riley ended up getting a grand total of four howlers and one face to face telling off.

She's gotten more of course, like the time she got mad at her Uncle Moody and convinced him that a present he got in the mail was actually a Basilisk egg. She wasn't able to sit without winching for days.

The visits had only entertained Riley for one day, and this was day three. Term had started again and Riley felt perfectly fine, but Pomfrey wouldn't let her leave. Riley was starting to think it was more out of spite, then for her health.

So, out of boredom Riley had started to write lists. She started with _5 Best Ways to Annoy Snape and Not Get Detention, _and moved onto _15 Surefire Ways to Prove Your Headmaster is off His Rocker, _and _20 Ways NOT to Escape the Prison (Hospital Wing). _But alas, even that didn't entertain her for long.

The trio had come to visit a couple more times after Riley had shown up. But they never had any good news. They had almost given up hope of ever finding Flamel in a library book, even though Harry kept telling them he was sure he'd read the name somewhere.

Riley had completely forgotten to ask Remus about Flamel over the holidays, and of course she got scolded by Hermione for it, but wasn't as badly as the boys did for being in the castle all holiday and not even trying to look for Flamel.

Riley had expressed her jealousy when Harry told her about the invisibility cloak he had inherited from his father, and had begged him for over an hour to let her use it sometimes to help with pranks. He finally and very reluctantly told her he would occasionally let her use it. Riley had promptly grabbed him into a death grip hug and thanked him profusely.

He had also told her about the mirror he had found, that had showed his and Ron's deepest desire. After the trio had left, Riley had sat for hours wondering what the mirror would have shown her.

When Riley finally got out of the Hospital Wing (she made sure to get out of there the moment Pomfrey undid the restraints on her legs), she was hoping to cause mass amounts of mischief with Fred and George. But was highly disappointed to find her partners in crime didn't have time because the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Oliver Wood had officially gone insane and was working the team to the bone.

Of course this minor setback did not stop Riley. So for the next couple of weeks, Riley set to work on causing as much mayhem as possible. She started by carrying a crucifix with her wherever she went, and every time a particularly nasty Slytherin walked by, she would brandish it at them crying; "Back! Back, evil doer!"

Sadly one of the times she did it when Malfoy walked by, McGonagall saw and took the crucifix off of her.

Another time in Potions, while mixing a rather easy Babbling Beverage, Riley was strongly reminded of a popular muggle cooking show. So when Ron asked her what to do, she just smiled and picked up the next ingredient, giving him instructions while mimicking Emeral and every time she put something in her potion she would say— just loud enough to make everyone around her jump; "BAM!"

By the time Snape came over to see what the racket was about, Riley had all the muggleborns and some half-blood's, laughing like mad.

Of course that didn't stop Snape from sending her to the headmaster. But by that time, Riley had been sent there so many times that she had come to know the headmaster pretty well. Now when a teacher sent her there, it was far from troubling.

The only teacher, who seemed to realize that sending Riley to the headmaster was no longer a punishment, was Professor McGonagall. And that was only because she walked into Dumbledore's office one time to find Riley teaching Dumbledore how to play the card game 21. (He's surprisingly very good at it.)

**~{}~**

One night Riley, Ron and Hermione were sitting in their favorite chairs by the fire in the common room. Ron was thoroughly thrashing Hermione in chess (the boys thought it was a good thing to have Hermione lose at something for once, but Riley knew it just made her crabby,) and Riley was finishing a last minute History of Magic essay, when Harry came bursting in through the portrait hole still rather muddy from the Quidditch practice.

"Don't talk to me for a moment," Ron said when Harry sat down next to him. "I need to concen—" He caught sight of Harry's face. "What's the matter with you? You look terrible."

Speaking quietly so that no one else would hear, Harry told them about Snape's sudden, seemingly sinister desire to be the Quidditch referee for the next game.

"Don't play." said Hermione at once.

"Say you're ill." said Ron.

"Pretend to break your leg." Hermione suggested.

"Really break your leg." said Ron.

"I can't." said Harry. "There isn't a reserve Seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can't play at all."

Riley rolled her eyes, getting back into her spot as devil's advocate. "Really guys? It's not like Snape is going to try to kill Harry in front of 90% of the student body and most of the teachers. Just because he's a git, doesn't mean he's stupid. And really Harry, I would think your life meant more then a Quidditch game."

"Oh, so you finally believe he was trying to kill Harry." Ron said smugly.

Riley rolled her eyes again, and said tersely. "Did I say that? No, I did not. I'm just pointing out the faults in your logic."

At that moment Neville toppled into the common room. How he had managed to climb through the portrait hole was anyone's guess, because his legs had been stuck together with what they recognized at once as the Leg-Locker Curse. He must have had to bunny hop all the way up to Gryffindor tower.

Almost everyone fell over laughing. Hermione leapt up and performed the counter curse. Neville's legs sprang apart and he got to his feet, trembling.

"What happened?" Hermione asked him, leading him over to sit with Harry, Ron and Riley.

"Malfoy." said Neville shakily. "I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on."

"Go to Professor McGonagall!" Hermione urged Neville. "Report him!" Neville shook his head.

"I don't want more trouble." he mumbled.

"Neville, what he's doing isn't right. You shouldn't let him get away with this." Riley said sympathetically. She may be a prankster but she was never cruel... well, unless they made her really mad.

"You've got to stand up to him, Neville!" said Ron. "He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier."

"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that." Neville choked out.

Riley shot a ferocious glare at Ron making him cower. Then she turned a slightly less scary glare at Neville. "You're ten times more courageous then Malfoy could even _wish_ to be. I don't ever want to hear you say otherwise. You're a great person Neville, and you shouldn't let people tell you, you're not."

Neville went bright red and smiled shyly at Riley in thanks. Harry felt in the pocket of his robes and pulled out a Chocolate Frog, the very last one from the box Hermione had given him for Christmas. He gave it to Neville, who looked better but still down.

"Yeah, Neville." Harry said agreeing with Riley. "You're worth twelve of Malfoy."

Neville's lips twitched in another weak smile as he unwrapped the frog.

"Thanks, Harry, Riley... I think I'll go to bed... D'you want the card? You collect them, don't you?" Neville said handing the card to Harry. As he walked away, Harry looked at the Famous Wizard card and his face lit up with excitement "I found him!"

While Hermione and Ron rushed over to him, Riley looked at him funny. "Did I miss something?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "He found Flamel, Riley."

"Oh." Riley nodded. "'Bout time too! I was getting tired of searching the library and not finding anything."

Ron nodded in agreement.

"Look, it says he was famous for working on alchemy with Dumbledore." Harry practically whispered as they crowded around him. Hermione smacked her forehead.

"Of course, why didn't I think of it before?" Then she ran off up to the girls dorm, and before any of them could ask what she was doing, Hermione was back with a book that looked like it weighed more then she did.

Hermione walked over to the table they were sat at, slammed the book down and started rifling through the pages. "I never thought to look in here! I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"_Light?_" Ron asked incredulously.

Hermione just hushed him. Finally she stopped and pointed at a spot on a page, looking proud of herself.

"Here, look, 'Nicholas Flamel is the only know maker of the _Sorcerers stone_'_._" She sighed exasperatedly, when the announcement didn't have the effect she was looking for. "'The Sorcerers stone can turn any inanimate object into gold, it can also produce the Elixir of Life, making anyone who drinks it immortal.' That's what Fluffy's guarding. I bet Flamel asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it, that's why he wanted the stone moved out of Gringotts!"

"No wonder Snape's after it! Anyone would want it." Harry said looking amazed.

**~{}~**

The day after the revelation of what was hidden in the school went by in a flurry of pranks detentions and homework. Riley had received so many Howlers from Andromeda the past couple of months that it almost felt weird _not_ to have her voice shrieking through the Great Hall each morning.

While sitting in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Ron and Harry talked about what they would do with the stone if they had it, while Riley doodled and Hermione copied down notes.

It was after Ron said something about owning a Quidditch team that Harry suddenly said to all three of them.

"I'm going to play. If I don't, all the Slytherins will think I'm just too scared to face Snape. I'll show them... It'll really wipe the smiles off their faces if we win."

"Just as long as we're not wiping you off the field." Hermione said grimly.

Riley scoffed. "Stop being so melodramatic, honestly. Give Snape more credit, he's a slimy git, but he's not stupid—"

Hermione cut her off, saying hotly. "Yes, we all know your theory, Riley."

"Then listen to it!" Riley whisper shouted; they were still in class after all. She turned to Harry and said shortly. "You'll be fine; the only thing you should be worrying about is getting that Snitch. Understand?"

Harry nodded mutely. He may have only known her for a little over five months, but he already knew not to disagree with her when she was angry.

**~{}~**

The next couple of days went back to their usual pattern. Class, prank, detention, homework, planning, and sleep.

One morning Riley was walking with Hermione to there first lesson. When she suddenly ran up to a third year Hufflepuff, who she thought might have been named Cedric Diggory and hugged him tightly. Before he could even process what happened, she ran back to a confused Hermione.

"Why did you hug that boy?" Hermione asked apprehensively, not quite sure she wanted an answer.

Riley shrugged. "I was stuck in a pattern, and I _hate_ patterns."

She had said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Hermione just stared at her for a moment before shaking her head, she would never get used to Riley's craziness.

**~{}~**

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><p><em><strong>I'm sorry it's kind of boring and short. But I'm going through a slight writers block on how to end this book and move on to the next. Oh well, sorry for any mistakes. I would love to hear from you in a review so please, whether it is bad or good I would love to hear your opinion... <strong>_

_**Well, ttfn!**_


	11. Chapter 11 A Little Sherlock In Everyone

_**Hello, readers! So just a couple things before we get to the chapter...**_

_**One, I'm really sorry, but after quite a few complaints, I did some major editing. Mostly to the first and second chapters. So now they explain Riley and her past better... hopefully. The rest of the chapters have been edited too, but mostly it was just a little added humor and attempts at fixing grammar issues. You don't have to read them all again, but I do recommend reading the first two again, if you want to understand Riley's past a bit better.**_

_**And secondly, I should warn you this chapter is quite a bit more serious, and there is some character bashing, but that's mostly just because Riley is mad. So please don't take it to heart. I really do love all the characters. Oh and I'll be answering some reviews at the bottom. Anyway that's enough babbling from me, so onward to the story! Enjoy. :)**_

**EDIT: 2/1/2012**

**Whew! I'm getting a lot done tonight. ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my OC's**

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><p><em>Chapter Eleven; A Little Sherlock in Everyone<em>

As the match drew closer, Harry, Hermione and Ron started to get paranoid. And Riley was getting sick of them always talking about Snape and the Stone. She loved her friends, but she was tired of never being listened too.

So Riley started to spend much more time with the Weasley twins, much to their delight. The three of them grew extremely close. So close, in fact that it was rare to find one without the others outside of classes. And one day, Fred and George decided to show Riley their most guarded secret.

"Hey Princess!" Fred called across the common room, using his and George's new nickname for her. She hated it, and that was why they used it. "Come here a second."

Riley sighed at the nickname, but walked over to him anyways. He and George were sitting at one of the tables in the corner of the common room with Lee. Surprisingly they had their homework all laid out around them. She raised her eyebrows at them.

They shrugged and gave her a look that clearly meant; "Even we do our homework _sometimes._"

Riley shook her head. "Seriously guys, stop calling me that or I'm going to start calling you my knights."

Lee made a face. "More like court jesters."

"Nah, they would actually like that." Riley reasoned.

Lee nodded. It made sense.

"Anyways," George interrupted, looking slightly irritated at Lee, for a reason unknown to Riley. "We wanted to show you the secret to our success—"

"The teachers of tricksters—" Fred said like he was announcing a king.

"The kings of pranks—"

"The peanut to our butter!" Fred exclaimed.

Riley raised an eyebrow at him and Fred's face went slightly pink. George coughed awkwardly. "Right... well, we present to you, the one—"

"The only—"

"The Marauders Map!" the twins finished together, brandishing an old piece of parchment at her.

Riley smiled huge. Of course she had heard of the Marauders map. Her godfather and real father helped make it. Sadly, Moony wouldn't tell her who Prongs and Wormtail were, or why they had the odd nicknames (well, Moony's made sense of course, and she had her suspicions...). Riley quickly snatched the map out of George's hand. Pulling out her wand, she tapped the map, and muttered under her breath:

"_I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good_."

All four tricksters watched as the map came alive, showing them every person, hallway, closet, and passageway in and out of the castle. It was the ultimate treasure for any prankster.

Fred stared at her suspiciously. "How did you know how to make it work?"

Riley stared at him blankly. "I have no idea what you're talking about, you horribly confused boy."

Fred stared at her for a second, and then shook his head. He knew by now that whenever she started to say things like that, he would never get the answer out of her. No matter _what_ he did.

"Well, anyways." Fred said, using a voice that sounded suspiciously like his brother Percy when trying to invoke his Prefect power. "We decided that you are ready to graduate from apprentice to partner. And in celebration of that, we are giving you this wonderful treasure, knowing that it will be the cause of much mischief and chaos."

The three pranksters watched as Riley's eyes went huge, and suddenly they found themselves being tackled to the ground by a very excited twelve year old. Who knew she had such strength?

**~{}~**

Finally the day of the dreaded Quidditch match arrived. Riley, Ron and Hermione walked with Harry to the locker rooms with grim faces. Riley may not have believed that Snape was out to kill Harry, but she knew Snape was going to make this game horrible for the Gryffindors.

So with some rather grim 'good luck's', Harry disappeared into the locker rooms and the rest of the quartet found a place in the stands next to Neville. Riley greeted him with a smile, while Hermione and Ron had a hushed conversation.

"Why do they look so grim?" Neville asked Riley, who was painting random things on his face with red and gold face paint. She really couldn't believe he was giving her full right to paint on his face. Luckily she was being nice.

"Oh, don't worry about them Neville. Their just being dramatic, that's all." She smiled sweetly at Ron, who had heard the comment and was glaring at her.

Riley couldn't help but notice that when Snape came out onto the field, he was looking particularly angry. _I wonder what's got his wand in a knot..._

"Look – they're off. Ouch!" Ron yelped. Someone had poked him hard in the head. It was Malfoy.

_Of course... _Riley sighed.

"Oh, sorry, Weasley. Didn't see you there." Malfoy grinned broadly at Crabbe and Goyle. "Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone want a bet? What about you Weasley?"

Riley was happy to note, that Ron ignored him. Or maybe he just didn't answer because George had just hit a Bludger at Snape (Brilliant, that boy is!) and got Hufflepuff a free penalty. (Not quite so brilliant anymore.)

"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?" Malfoy said loudly, peeved that Ron hadn't risen to his bait. "Its people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money— you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains."

Everyone groaned as Snape awarded Hufflepuff another penalty for no reason.

"Oh and how do they choose the players for Slytherin, Malfoy? By how stupid they are?" Riley retorted.

"Shut your mouth, Langley." Malfoy snapped.

Neville who had turned bright red at the comment Malfoy had made about him, turned in his seat to face him.

"Don't talk to her like that." he stammered. "And I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy."

Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle howled with laughter, but Ron still not looking away from the game, said. "You tell him, Neville."

"Longbottom, if brains were gold you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something."

"I'm warning you, Malfoy, one more word—" Ron ground out, his teeth clenched in anxiety for Harry and anger at Malfoy.

"Ron!" said Hermione suddenly. "Harry—!"

Everyone turned to watch Harry go into a spectacular dive, which drew gasps and cheers from them all. Riley stood up, and crossed her fingers. Hermione doing the same, as Harry streaked towards the ground like a bullet.

"You're in luck, Weasley. Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground!" Malfoy said maliciously.

Ron snapped. And before Riley could stop him, Ron was on top of Malfoy, wrestling him to the ground. After a moments hesitation Neville joined the fray, trying to take on both Crabbe and Goyle.

Riley shook her head, muttering about idiots. She pulled her wand out, and cast a Body-Bind on Goyle the bigger of the two goons. She didn't dare try to hit Malfoy or Crabbe, because she was afraid she would hit Neville or Ron instead.

"Come on, Harry!" Hermione yelled, totally oblivious to the fight going on behind her.

Up in the air Snape turned on his broomstick just in time to see something scarlet shoot past him, missing him by inches – the next second, Harry had pulled out of his dive, his arm raised in triumph, the Snitch clasped in his hand.

The stands erupted in cheers. Hermione was so excited, she actually _hugged_ Riley. Riley, herself was jumping around and laughing at how excited Hermione was and how quickly they had won the game. It had to be a record. The crowd all spilled out onto the field, to congratulate the team.

Riley saw Dumbledore talking to Harry, and smiled when he looked up and gave her a wink.

**~{}~**

While waiting on Harry outside the locker rooms, Riley couldn't help but tell Ron and Hermione "I told you so" over and over... and over.

Of course Hermione never being one to admit she was wrong. Brought up the point; "of course Snape didn't do anything. Dumbledore was there."

Riley just sighed in frustration and rolled her eyes.

Finally after some more random chatter, Harry came back from putting his broom away, with an odd look on his face.

"Harry, where have you been?" Hermione squeaked.

"We won! You won! We won!" shouted Ron. "And I gave Malfoy a black eye, and Neville tried to take out Crabbe and Goyle single handed! Then Riley did some weird spell on Goyle, but Neville still had to fight Crabbe! He's still out cold, but Madam Pomfrey says he'll be alright. Talk about showing the Slytherins! Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party. Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchens."

Riley laughed, _more like the house elves gave them the cakes._ Despite what people thought, the house elves were always willing to give away food. And most of them were a very cheery lot. They always kept your secrets for you too. Riley really liked the house elves.

"Never mind that now." Harry said breathlessly. "Let's find an empty room; you wait 'til you hear this..."

**~{}~**

Riley sighed as she sat in the library doing her homework. It had been a long couple of weeks. After the game against Hufflepuff, Harry, Hermione, and Ron's paranoia and obsession went to an all time high.

After Harry had pulled them into a deserted classroom, he told them about a conversation he overheard between Quirrell and Snape. It seemed Snape had been threatening Quirrell, trying to get Quirrell to tell him how to get passed _whatever _it was, that was blocking his way to get to the stone and questioning Quirrell's loyalties.

Of course, Riley agreed that it_ did _sound suspicious. But she just couldn't shake the feeling that they were missing something, that there was more to it then that. It just didn't seem like it could be so simple.

And Riley being... well, Riley, she made her thoughts known. And once more the other three didn't agree. Well, Ron and Hermione didn't. Harry agreed to a point, but he still didn't think that there was a chance that Snape was innocent.

_They're only seeing what they want to see._ Riley thought frustrated.

She had gotten tired of getting shot down every time she tried to explain her thoughts. Until finally, her temper got the best of her (again.) and she blew up at them. Resulting in a huge fight between her, Hermione and Ron. Harry had refused to get involved, because he really liked having Riley as a friend.

Now she wasn't talking to either Hermione or Ron, and by default, Harry.

She wondered later if everyone had a little Sherlock Holmes in them. They probably did, just some more then others. Maybe that's why the trio was so obsessed with this mystery. Riley herself found the whole thing _very_ interesting, but not interesting enough to put her life on hold, and think about nothing else.

Riley now spent most of her time with Fred, George, Lee and surprisingly Neville. She liked Neville. He was a sweet, quite boy. But he also had no confidence in himself (Riley blamed his grandmother for that). So Riley spent a lot of time working on boosting his confidence, and it was working... At least when he was with her... And there wasn't anyone older around. But it was a start.

She had also started to visit Dumbledore regularly, and not because she was sent there by teachers, though she still was. She found that they were a lot alike and he was very easy to talk to, always having some wise or quirky thing to say. Just the other day, she had written up a paper for him to sign stating that he was her unofficial, adoptive grandfather.

Of course, she couldn't tell anyone because that would be favoritism. But she was extremely happy when she got him to actually sign it. He had said he was extremely touched that she would consider him her grandfather. And she believed him.

Sadly, Riley was unable to pull off as many pranks as usual as of late, because the teachers had started stacking on the homework. Saying that the exams were getting closer and they needed to be ready. And so there she was, spending her Easter holiday sitting in the library, trying to do her homework.

That is, until the trio walked in. she wasn't really in the mood for a verbal spar. So instead she gathered her things, and went for a walk around the lake. Since it was such a pretty day outside, there were a lot of people out and about.

**~{}~**

After a couple rounds around the lake, and a few light hearted conversations with random people, she decided to go see Hagrid. It had been awhile since her last visit.

When she got to the hut, she noticed all the windows were closed but she just figured he didn't want to be disturbed. Just as she was about to walk away, though, she heard voices inside. So her curiosity getting the better of her, again... she knocked.

"Who is it?" She heard Hagrid's gruff voice call.

"It's me, Hagrid. Are you alright?" She asked slightly worried. Hagrid was acting odd. Well, more odd then usual.

Suddenly the door opened and she was hurriedly rushed in, before the door was shut behind her.

"Hullo, Riley."

Riley looked around to see the very people she was trying to get away from, sitting at the table.

Riley plastered a smile on her face. "Hello, Harry. How're you?" she asked, pointedly ignoring the other two.

Hagrid, never being one to notice things like all the tension in the room, just smiled at her and said "Well, sit down; I'll make you cuppa."

Riley smiled and thanked him.

It was stifling hot, inside the rather small hut. Even though it was a warm day, there was a blazing fire in the grate. Hagrid made them tea and offered them stoat sandwiches, which they refused.

"So— yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?" Hagrid asked Harry, as Riley watched on mildly curious.

"Yes, we were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Sorcerer's Stone apart from Fluffy." Harry asked. Apparently he felt no need to beat around the bush, Riley grinned.

Hagrid on the other hand, frowned at him.

"O' course, I can't." he said. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here for a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts— I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy."

"Oh, come on, Hagrid. You might not want to tell us, but you _do_ know. You know everything that goes on round here." said Hermione in a warm, flattering voice. Hagrid's beard twitched and they could tell he was smiling.

Riley smirked. She may be mad at Hermione, but even she had to admit; she was good.

"We only wondered who had done the guarding, really." Hermione went on. "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."

Hagrid's chest swelled at these last words. Harry and Ron beamed at Hermione and Riley hid a smirk behind her mug.

She was good, not good enough for it to work on anyone other then Hagrid. But there was definitely potential.

"Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that... let's see... he borrowed Fluffy from me... then some o' the teachers did enchantments... Professor Sprout— Professor Flitwick— Professor McGonagall—" Hagrid ticked them off on his fingers; "Professor Quirrell— an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."

Riley narrowed her eyes, something was definitely off. She had thought so from the beginning. So she decided to go over the facts again.

From what she had heard, Snape used to dabble (well, more then dabble. But this wasn't the time to get into that.) In the Dark Arts, and continuously tried to get the DADA job. So why would he need someone like Quirrell's help to get past whatever was blocking the way?

She could understand if he was having issues with Dumbledore's, or even McGonagall's protection. But she doubted Quirrell would have anymore luck with either of them then Snape would. And with Snape's experience, she doubted the inexperienced Quirrell could come up with something to stop him. So the question was what was really going on here? Why was Snape threatening Quirrell if it wasn't for his help? And why had he been trying to get past Fluffy if he didn't think he could get passed all the protections?

She felt like the answer was right in front of her, just out of reach, taunting her.

"_Snape?_" the three stooges (as Riley so fondly dubbed them in her irritation,) cried at the same time.

"Yeah— yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped _protect_ the Stone, he's not about ter steal it."

Riley watched, with slight amusement at the ignorance of the trio, for not seeing all the flaws in what they thought was going on. All they needed to do was look at _all _the facts, and not just the ones that point to Snape being the bad guy.

Of course, she knew that was still a possibility as they had evidence against him. But the more they learned, the more things just didn't fit with that theory.

"You're the only one, who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you Hagrid?" Harry asked anxiously. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"

Riley shook her head; Hagrid was much too loyal to tell anyone purposely. But as shown by Hermione, it didn't take much to get the answer out of him.

Riley made note that, even though he was a great and an extremely loyal friend, not to trust him with important secrets.

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore." Hagrid said proudly.

"Well, that's something." Harry muttered. "Hagrid, can we open a window? I'm boiling."

"Can't, Harry, sorry." Hagrid said, his eyes flashing to the fire. Riley and the others turned to look too, only for Riley to drop her mug, making the others jump. They had forgotten she was there, because she had been so quite.

"No way..." She whispered in awe.

Lying in the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg. Hagrid had found himself a dragon.

**~{}~**

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><p><strong>midori17: I was actually able to read some of it because I've been taking Spanish. But after awhile I figured it would be best if I used a translator. Lol! But anyway thank you for review! And I hope you liked this chapter. :)<strong>

**Gui: Honestly, I hadn't even realized I did that until you told me. Anyway thanks for your review. :)**

**Kayakingoffwaterfalls: Thank you so much for you encouragement and I really hope you like this chapter as much as the others. :)**

**So that's it for now, I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up but hopefully it will be soon. **

**Anyways check out my profile, I have a poll going, info on what stories I'm planning, and what I'm already working on. Let me know what you think in a review or even PM me I'm not picky. haha!**

**ttfn.**


	12. Chapter 12 To Love A Dragon

_**HI! So I'm sorry this one is short and all, but it was surprisingly hard to write. Anyhow, I posted a new story called When Life Gives You Chocolate and I would love to hear what you guys think of it. So be sure to check it out! **_

_**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and Favorited/Alerted. It makes my day to hear from you guys. **_

_**Enjoy!**_

**EDIT: 2/1/2012**

**So this is the last one of the previously posted chapters. On to the new ones!...**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC's.**

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><p><em>Chapter Twelve; To Love a Dragon<em>

Riley had always wanted a dragon. When she was little she used to beg her parents for hours on end to let her get one. She always had an argument ready for the next time she would ask too.

It started with the fact that they were gorgeous creatures. Then it was that they could keep her warm in the winter, because of their natural heating system. Then when she got a little bit older, she even used the excuse that they could keep all the boys away so she wouldn't get cooties. (That one made Ted and Remus laugh until they cried.)

Unfortunately though, she never got one. But now, her dream would finally come true, sort of. Because Hagrid had a dragon egg.

The smooth black surface of the egg, made it look like a giant onyx stone. In her eyes— and in Hagrid's too— it was beautiful.

Riley squealed in a very un-Riley like way and got up to kneel by the fire.

"Oh, Hagrid. The egg is beautiful! Do you know what type it is? How did you even get one? Oh, this is amazing! I've always wanted a dragon. Can I help you take care of it when it hatches?" Riley babbled on, confusing Hagrid after about the second question because she was talking so fast.

The trio watched her in shock, having never seen her quite this excited before.

"Won it," Hagrid said attempting to answer her questions. "Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."

Riley couldn't even fathom why someone would want to get rid of such an epic creature.

"But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"Well, I've been doin' some readin'." Hagrid said, pulling a large book from under his pillow. "Got this outta the library— Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit— it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on 'em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here— how ter recognize diff'rent eggs— what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."

Hagrid looked very pleased with himself. Hermione on the other hand, looked torn between worry and disapproval. Worry seemed to win though, as she pointed out that Hagrid was living in a wooden house.

Riley immediately waved the statement away. "But that can be fixed with a charm. All he has to do is ask Dumbledore to fire proof his house."

Harry leaned towards Riley to whisper. "You're not helping."

Riley gave him a scandalized look. "Of course I am!"

Harry shook his head (he seemed to do that a lot around her). They had lost her to the dragon.

**~{}~**

The next couple of days Riley spent at Hagrid's, learning about how to take care of a dragon and planning what they could do to avoid the obvious issues— like the fact that the dragon was illegal.

Then one morning Batman landed in Riley's pumpkin juice with a letter from Hagrid. Eagerly she opened it and read: _It's hatching._

Riley was so excited she skipped Herbology and ran down to his hut immediately. She got there just as Hagrid was pulling the rattling egg out of the fireplace and putting it gently on the table. Hagrid was so infatuated with the egg he didn't even notice that Riley should have been in class.

After about an hour of waiting, the egg was starting to crack and the trio showed up.

A funny clicking noise started to come from the egg. They all pulled their chairs closer and watched with bated breath.

All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open. The baby dragon flopped on to the table. Riley smiled, it was an amazing creature. Its wings were a bit too big for its body, and most people would find the big, bright orange eyes creepy. But to Riley there was no cooler creature.

"Isn't he _beautiful_?" Hagrid murmured. Riley was quick to agree. She watched as Hagrid reached out and pet the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing its pointed teeth.

"Bless him, look, he knows his mummy!" said Hagrid.

Riley laughed. "What will you name it, Hagrid?"

He was about to answer when the color suddenly drained from his face – he leapt to his feet and ran to the window.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked.

"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains – it's a kid – he's runnin' back up ter the school."

The four first years bolted towards the door and looked outside to see a familiar blonde headed kid running up the hill.

It was Malfoy.

**~{}~**

The next couple of days Riley spent a lot of time giving Malfoy the 'Look of Eternal Pain'. George had told her once that she had an extremely scary glare and that was why he and Fred never got her mad. That ridiculously smug smirk he had on his face only grew larger every time he saw the look though.

Sadly, Riley realized if they didn't get rid of the dragon, Hagrid could get sent to Azkaban. So setting aside her love for dragons, she started to try convincing Hagrid to let the baby dragon go in the mountains somewhere. But he refused, saying stuff like; "He's only a baby, he can't live on his own."

Finally one night Riley, Harry, Ron and Hermione all set aside their differences and tried to work together. It didn't go well until Harry got an Idea.

Ron was just telling them how bonkers Hagrid had gone over the baby dragon, (Norbert, Hagrid had said it's name was.) when Harry turned to Ron suddenly.

"Charlie." He said triumphantly.

Ron looked at him oddly. "You're going bonkers too. I'm Ron, remember?"

But Riley who had caught on to what Harry was thinking, rolled her eyes at Ron. "No, stupid. Charlie. Your brother. He works with dragons—"

"We can send Norbert to him." Harry finished.

"Brilliant!" said Ron. "How bout it Hagrid?"

And after a little convincing, Hagrid agreed.

**~{}~**

The following week dragged by and despite telling herself she wouldn't get attached to the dragon, she did. Riley started to spend so much time down at Hagrid's; she started to fall behind on homework, causing her to spend her weekend doing nothing but homework.

Luckily she had the twins and Lee to help. Despite what people thought, they were very smart and good tutors.

At first the twins would ask what Riley was up to that took up so much of her time. But when she said telling anyone could get someone in way more trouble then they deserved, the twins backed off and stopped asking. Which Riley greatly appreciated.

She hated keeping stuff from them. It was one of their rules. They told each other everything. She even told them about her animangus form, and what happened to her mum and step-dad.

Even though this was a small thing, she figured the less people who knew the better. So she just told them that; after it was over, she would tell them everything.

Lucky for Riley though, the day it would be over came sooner then she expected.

She was sitting in a more remote corner of the library, finishing a nasty essay from Snape—she was making sure he would have to give her an Outstanding on it, or at least an Exceeds Exceptions, when Harry and Hermione sat down next to her.

"Riley, we need your help." Harry whispered.

Riley raised an eyebrow at them both. "Do you now?"

They may have put there differences aside for awhile, but Riley wanted an apology and she wasn't backing down till she got one. Fred, George and even Harry had told her she was being stupid and stubborn, but she didn't care.

Harry sighed. "Yes, and if you want to help Hagrid you need to listen."

Riley gave him a look. He was playing dirty. "Fine, go ahead. What do you need?"

**~{}~**

When Riley asked Harry what he had needed, this wasn't exactly what she thought he would want.

Riley, Hermione and Harry were carefully carrying a Dragon-In-A-Box (literally) up to the astronomy tower at midnight, under Harry's invisibility cloak.

Apparently Harry, Ron and Hermione had gotten their answer from Charlie the night before. They had planned to meet a couple of Charlie's friends, who were on there way back to the dragon reserve, at the top of the astronomy tower to hand off the dragon to them.

Unfortunately not only did Ron get bit by the poisonous fangs of said dragon, but Malfoy knew about their plan to get rid of it too.

So there they were, creeping through the cold halls, carrying a box longer then they were tall, hoping not to get caught. Luckily, Riley knew this part of the castle rather well, so they were able to take a couple of short cuts. But even so, the box was so heavy it made the walk seem like ages.

Riley was just starting to think her worry about getting caught with a dragon was for naught, when they saw a lamp flair down the corridor.

**~{}~**

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><p><em><strong>Like I said it's short and a bit rushed. But don't worry better; longer chapters are soon to come. Review please :)<strong>_


	13. Chapter 13 That Sweet Thing

_**I'm baaaack! So after the long process of editing and writing I finally have this book all typed up and ready to be posted. Aren't you excited? I am!**_

_**Anyway, thank you to everyone who reviewed/alerted/favorited. I'm sorry I didn't reply to any of you, but I honestly couldn't remember who I had replied to and who I didn't.**_

_**Also, I should mention that the ideas for the prank in this chapter came from my brother and **_**Sasparilla123****. **_**I really suggest reading his/her story**_** Remus Lupin is not Boring **_**it's really funny.**_

_**So, all I have to say now is… ONWARD TO THE STORY!**_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything related to it. It all belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

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><p><em>Chapter Thirteen; That Sweet Thing They Call Revenge<em>

It was McGonagall.

In a bathrobe and a hair net.

If it wasn't so important to stay quite, Riley would have been laughing till she cried. There was just something about McGonagall— scary and respected teacher, walking around in a bathrobe and hair net that made Riley want to crack up. Of course the fact that said teacher had Malfoy by the ear and that he was clearly terrified by her probably had something to do with it too.

Quietly the three first years shrank into the shadows— despite the fact they were wearing an invisibility cloak, just in time for McGonagall to come within their hearing range.

"Detention!" they heard her shout. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how _dare_ you—"

"You don't understand, Professor. Harry Potter's coming— he's got a dragon!"

"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on— I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!"

Through the whole part of the conversation that Harry, Hermione and Riley could hear as the two passed, Riley had paled considerably.

Harry looked at her curiously as they walked up a spiral staircase. "What's up?" he whispered.

Riley shivered. "We really can't get caught tonight. McGonagall is in a _really_ bad mood. She's never been so angry when she's caught me out at night."

Harry shrugged. He wasn't worried; they had the cloak after all.

When they finally got out into the open air, they threw off the cloak and Hermione started to do a little jig.

"Malfoy's got detention!" she practically sang. "I could sing!"

"Don't." Harry advised her, as Riley laughed.

Chuckling about Malfoy's bad luck, they waited. Ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness.

Charlie's friends were a cheery lot. They showed Harry and Hermione the harness they'd rigged up to hold Norbert, and chatted enthusiastically with Riley about other dragons they had helped take care of. They all helped buckle Norbert safely into the harness and then shook hands with the three students. Harry, Hermione and Riley all thanked them and then watched as the group took off and Norbert was going… going… gone.

Before they slipped back down the staircase Riley grabbed the cloak and threw it over them. She had a bad feeling they weren't going to make it back to the dorm unnoticed.

And she was right. Just as they got to the bottom of the staircase, Riley's infamous clumsiness decided to show itself. Tripping over her own feet, she grabbed hold of the other two and all three went down. As they tried to get back up the cloak slipped off of them and Filch's face emerged from the darkness.

"Well, well, well…" he whispered. "We _are_ in trouble."

**~{}~**

This was quite possibly the worst night Riley had ever had at Hogwarts. She knew McGonagall had been beyond mad so she didn't even try to make an excuse. Still McGonagall took fifty points away from each of them thinking the three Gryffindors had set Malfoy up by feeding him false information.

Riley was starting to think that maybe telling McGonagall some flimsy excuse would've been better, as her assumption seemed only to make her angrier.

She was in the girl's dorm now; laying in her bed and staring up at the ceiling. She felt bad for Hermione who seemed to be in shock. And why wouldn't she be? She had never been yelled at by a teacher like that, not even when she had told the Professor she had gone looking for the troll. She was used to being the perfect do-no-wrong teachers pet.

Now don't get Riley wrong. She wasn't resentful of Hermione for being like that; she just thought Hermione needed to loosen up a bit.

Back to the point; it wasn't even the house points that McGonagall had taken that worried Riley. Yeah, okay, so the whole of Gryffindor (and probably Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw too,) were going to hate her for a couple of days, because they were no longer able to beat Slytherin for House Cup. Big deal. They could win the points back easily enough and they would've hated Riley anyway for the prank she'd been thinking of pulling on them all.

No, what worried Riley was the detention. She had never seen McGonagall so mad, not even when one of her pranks went badly. Riley knew this detention wasn't going to be simple lines. She also knew McGonagall was creative… and _that's_ what worried her the most.

**~{}~**

Riley was right in expecting all the Gryffindors to hate her, Hermione and Harry. Even sweet little Ali who Riley had been starting to become rather good friends with wouldn't look at her. The only people in Riley's year that were still talking to her were Harry and Neville. But what Riley hadn't expected were Fred, George and Lee not even acknowledging her.

Riley spent breakfast alone the morning after their little adventure. The moment she sat down with the twins and Lee; they had stopped talking, gathered their stuff and left the hall… not even glancing at her.

Now where most people might get depressed, or cry (like Hermione), or just try to stay out of everyone's way (like Harry), Riley got angry. She didn't care that everyone else hated her, but the moment three of her best friends turned their back on her… well, she wasn't going to take that crap lying down. She walked through the halls with her head held high, she made sure to raise her hand in every class and she smiled and laughed like she didn't notice, like nothing they said or did affected her. But she _did_ notice. She noticed every snide remark, every glare, and every not so subtle name calling.

But she didn't care about what those people thought of her. She only cared that Fred, George and Lee had turned there backs on her and now, she was plotting. She was plotting big. Because if there was one thing every prankster was good at, it was revenge.

**~{}~**

It took a couple days to get everything ready and learn all the charms. She even enlisted Neville's help with some of the research. She wouldn't let him help with anything else though, because she didn't want him to get in trouble. But with his help, by the next Saturday, Riley was ready.

That night, she waited patiently for the common room to clear out and everyone to go to sleep. When finally, the last straggler headed up to bed, Riley quietly made her way to her dorm to grab what she needed.

As quietly as she could, Riley snuck into the Gryffindor third year boy's dorm and got to work. Every once in awhile she would freeze as one of the boy's twitched or rolled over but soon she was done.

She snuck back to her room (only pausing for a moment to lock the boy's dorm door for good measure) and fell asleep with a victorious and slightly vicious smile on her face. _That would teach them not to mess with a prankster's goddaughter._

**~{}~**

Fred, George and Lee woke up feeling odd the next morning. As they got out of bed they burst into laughter. Each one of them was wearing a silky girl's nightgown and someone had grown their hair out and styled it like a girl.

They had to appreciate the fact that whoever did this, and they _had_ their suspicions, was really good to have changed them this much without them waking up.

They had a good laugh about it until they tried to reverse it and only got their hair to grow longer. Getting slightly frustrated they decided to deal with it later. That is until Fred and Lee heard George cry out.

"You have got to be kidding me!" he stared incredulously at his closet, almost wishing he could burn his eyes out.

Hanging innocently in his closet, was a set of the frilliest, girliest, laciest, puffiest dresses he had ever seen in his _life_. It looked like a Barbie and a fairy merged and then puked in his closet as each dress was covered in sparkles, rhinestones, sequins— you name it, they had it.

Desperately he searched the dorm for normal clothes but all he could find was more dresses, each one worse then the last.

After some thinking the twins tried to go ask their older brother Percy if they could barrow some clothes but found, to their dismay, the door was locked.

Resigning themselves to their fate, they put on the dresses. As soon as they did, a note appeared. Fred picked it up and read aloud;

"_Hello, ladies!_

_I figured I'd let you know that sometime within the hour, you are going to get the sudden urge to become nudist and start a nudist colony that will likely last for the next 24 hours. Also, I should tell you I've cast only charms that cannot be undone by anyone but the caster, and until you admit exactly what you have done wrong and sincerely apologize to me to my satisfaction, I will not undo them. Telling the teachers what I've done will only cause your suffering to continue longer._

_Never underestimate a pissed off prankster no matter how young they are, and in the words of my uncle… CONSTANT VIGILANCE!_

_Sincerely,_

_Your very disappointed and pissed off fellow prankster._

_P.S. have a nice day, I know I will!_"

The three boys' were shaking with rage by the end of the note. They couldn't believe she would do something like this to them. But if she wanted a war, she got one and they had a taste for one fiery red heads blood.

**~{}~**

If the boy's had thought that was as far as the prank went, they were surely mistaken.

As they walked into the common room, ignoring all the sniggers they were getting, they noticed someone's clothes were hanging on the walls and on the ceiling. It didn't take them long to realize that the clothes were theirs. As they attempted to get their clothes down, someone came up behind them.

"Tsk, tsk. That's not going to work." The girl sang, her stormy eyes glinting victoriously. "Your not going to be able to get those back for another couple hours. Just in time for that little curse I put on the dresses to… set in."

The boy's glowered at her.

"We didn't do anything to deserve this." Lee growled.

Riley's face suddenly became dangerous. "Wrong answer, boys. You deserted me when I needed you because of some stupid house rivalry. You _deserve_ more, and because of that comment, you're going to _get it_."

Without saying another word Riley spun on her heel and disappeared out of the portrait hole.

**~{}~**

The day didn't get any better for the boys. As Riley had predicted, the boys had to be locked alone in a room by the teachers, so as to stop them from trying to get students to join their nudist colony.

Their friends from the Quidditch team— Angelina, Alicia and Katie took pity on them and gathered all their clothes from the various rooms and halls they had been hung in. Despite how mad they were at her, the boy's had to admit that when Riley went all out, she _really_ went all out.

When at last the curse ended, the boys found that their clothes had been cursed to shock them lightly or change their skin and hair color, every time they put them on.

To say that they were pissed and ready for revenge was an understatement. But what really got them, was the next day in every class, every time a teacher asked a question they raised their hands and whether they knew the answer or not, would say something utterly stupid.

"And the best way to get rid of a boggart is? Mr. Weasley."

"Bubbles shooting from my mouth after drinking a shook up soda?"

And the longer the day went on, the worse the answers got and the more points they lost. Thus, causing a sudden understanding of why Riley was so angry at them.

**~{}~**

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><p><em><strong>So I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know it's short and a little weird, but it's also important and the reason why will show itself at a later point. I would also like to state that yes, I know what Riley did was vicious. And no, I don't actually think she was justified in what she did, at least not to the degree she took it too. But like I said; it's important to the plot.<strong>_

_**Anyway, please let me know what you think. And I will probably post more this weekend. Ttfn!**_


	14. Chapter 14 As the Pieces are Laid

**_Hi! So here's the new chapter on time for once! Yay! So we're down to the last couple of chapters. Are you excited? I know I was when I finally finished the first book. Anyways I figured I would let you know that I changed my penname so it matches some of my other sites and I have a poll going on my profile for whether I should write a _Harry Potter Characters Read the Books _story or not. I thought I would do one from around Harry's second year. It would be just for fun. It's up to you guys though, if you want me to write one, so go check out that poll!_**

_**Now I'm done babbling, so onto the story!**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but my OC.**

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><p><em>Chapter Fourteen; As the Pieces are Laid<em>

As the days rolled on, the feud between the Weasley twins, Lee Jordan and Riley Langley continued and the boy's clothes still kept shocking them and changing their hair and skin. If they weren't so mad at Riley, they would've been extremely impressed.

Unfortunately, with the exams coming up they didn't have time to come up with something good enough to do to Riley as revenge. Despite what they told everyone, the twins knew if they did badly on the exams again their mother would kill them. So between Quidditch and studying, they didn't have much time to plan.

Riley was feeling awful. Three of her best friends weren't talking to her and she still wasn't on good terms with Hermione and Ron. She didn't even remember what they were fighting about, just that Hermione was still being cold towards her and Ron was being… well Ron. Riley was pretty sure he had forgotten that they were fighting, which was okay with Riley.

Thankfully she still had Neville and Harry to talk to and study with… and speaking of Harry…

Riley, Ron and Hermione were in the library, testing each other on astronomy. It was kind of awkward with Hermione giving her the cold shoulder, but Ron seeming to have forgotten they were fighting was fine. Harry had just left a few minutes before, but now came running into the place straight for them.

"What's up?" Riley asked worried as Harry fought to catch his breath.

"Heard— Snape— he knows!" Harry panted.

The other three just looked at each other in confusion then back to Harry.

"What?" three voices simultaneously asked.

When Harry finally caught his breath, he sat down at the table and explained.

Apparently, on his way back to the common room he heard Quirrell begging. It sounded like the person he was begging was hurting him. Then Harry heard Quirrell agree to something, sob and leave. Harry was sure it was Snape finally getting the information he needed to get the Stone.

Riley sat back as the other three debated on what to do.

Something wasn't right. Something just didn't add up in her head at all. So she tried laying out all the facts.

They said Snape was cursing Harry's broom, but Riley knew he could have just as easily been trying to save Harry.

Harry said he heard Snape interrogating Quirrell about his 'hocus pocus', and where the stuttering teacher's loyalties really lie.

Harry also said he heard Quirrell agree to something, and that he was scared. But he never said he heard or saw Snape around… or anyone else for that matter.

They also knew Snape tried to get past Fluffy on Halloween…

But what if he wasn't? What if Snape knew who was after the Stone, and was trying to protect it?

Okay… so maybe that's a bit far fetched to think with the facts she had, but something didn't add up right…

Gringotts was robbed on Harry's birthday…

Snape was at the teachers table through the whole Halloween feast…

Riley had also seen Quirrell standing right behind Snape in the Quidditch stands.

_So why—?... No, that can't be right. It doesn't make sense either… but maybe…_

Riley was pulled from her thoughts as Harry snapped; "No, we've done enough poking around."

As Harry went back to his homework, Riley gathered her things. Saying a quick good-bye she headed out of the library. She had a lot to think about.

**~{}~**

The next morning Riley got a note telling her of to go to the entrance hall at eleven that night for her detention and found Harry and Hermione got one too.

Riley hadn't forgotten about this particular detention, it was the first time she was truly terrified because of a detention. And it showed throughout the day as she became more and more sarcastic.

By now Harry and Ron had learned that the more sarcastic she got the more nervous or scared she was. The thought only made Harry even more worried about their detention if even Riley was scared.

**~()~**

At eleven o'clock sharp, Harry, Hermione and Riley said good-bye to Ron and headed for the entrance hall.

Filch was already there— and so was Malfoy. It seemed to Riley that the only good thing to come out of this detention so far was the fact that Malfoy had it too.

"Follow me." Filch said, lighting a lamp and leading them outside.

"I'll bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?" he said leering at them.

Riley scoffed. "No I won't. I'll just make sure not to get caught next time."

"You won't be saying that after tonight, I'm sure. It's just a pity they let the old punishments die… hang you by the wrist from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well oiled in case they're ever needed… Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do."

"You've got some _serious_ issues to work out." Riley muttered, shaking her head.

They marched across the grounds in relative silence. Riley could hear Malfoy muttering under his breath, but only caught random words like "My father" and "Sacked". Soon they could see lights ahead and Riley realized they were from Hagrid's hut.

"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started." They heard Hagrid shout.

Riley smiled in relief. If they were with Hagrid, it couldn't be too bad. Maybe McGonagall felt bad about the points and decided too let Hagrid take their detention. Filch apparently didn't like the relief that showed on hers and Harry's faces because he said; "I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again— it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll come out in one piece."

"Then you're much mistaken," Riley replied automatically. "Because we will be fine."

But Malfoy still stopped dead in his tracks.

"The forest?" he repeated. Riley happily noted that his 'cool' persona was failing him now. "We can't go in there at night— there's all sorts of things in there— werewolves, I heard."

"Don't be ridiculous." Riley snapped. "One, it's not even a full-moon tonight and two, werewolves are _human beings_, with _lives_. They're not going to go live in a forest on Hogwarts grounds. Besides, you're such a foul git; even the hungriest of werewolves wouldn't want _you_."

She couldn't help herself. Werewolves have always been and will always be a touchy subject with her.

Malfoy scowled at her, but seemed too scared of the prospect of going into the forest to retort.

Filch went to say something, but was cut off as Hagrid strode toward them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He was carrying a large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.

"Abou' time," he said. "I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, you three?" he addressed the last part towards Harry, Riley and Hermione.

"I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid." Filch said coldly. "They're here to be punished, after all."

"That's why yer late, is it?" Hagrid said, frowning at Filch. "Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here."

"I'll be back at dawn, for what's left of them." Filch added nastily. Then he turned and headed back to the castle.

Malfoy turned to Hagrid.

"I'm not going in that forest." he said, panic lacing his voice.

"Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts." Hagrid replied fiercely. "Yeh've done wrong an' now yeh've got ter pay fer it."

"But this is servant stuff; it's not for students to do. I thought we'd be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this, he'd—"

"—tell yeh that's that's how it is at Hogwarts." Hagrid growled. "Copyin' lines! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh'll do summat useful or yeh'll get out. If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on!"

Malfoy didn't move. He looked at Hagrid furiously, but then dropped his gaze.

"Right then." said Hagrid. "Now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment."

He led them to the very edge of the forest. Holding his lamp up high, he pointed down a narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick black trees. A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked into the forest. It almost looked like a black hole that sucked you in till you could never find your way out again.

"Look there." said Hagrid. "See that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."

Riley immediately tried to think of any creature that could hurt a unicorn. They were extremely fast, and powerful. Most creatures stayed away from unicorns, to kill one was like torturing a baby; It was so wrong, even the most disgusting of people wouldn't do it. Plus to even get a bit of their blood past your lips, causes you to have a cursed life, or as they say a half life.

"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" Malfoy said, breaking Riley from her thoughts.

"There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang." said Hagrid. "An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least."

"I want Fang." said Malfoy quickly, looking at Fang's long teeth.

"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward." said Hagrid. "So me, Riley, an' Hermione'll go one way an' Draco, Harry, an' Fang'll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practice now— that's it— an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh— so, be careful— let's go."

The forest was black and silent. A little way into it they reached a fork in the earth path, and Riley, Hermione, and Hagrid took the left path while Malfoy, Harry, and Fang took the right.

They walked in silence, their eyes on the ground. Every now and then a ray of moonlight through the branches above lit a spot of silver-blue blood on the fallen leaves.

Riley saw that Hagrid looked very worried.

"What could be killing the Unicorns, Hagrid?" Riley asked, not liking the silence.

"Donno." Hagrid replied. "It's not easy ter catch a unicorn, they're powerful magic creatures. I never knew one ter be hurt before."

"Could whatever it is, be after their blood? They might have to deal with the curse, but unicorn blood can heal a person even at the brink of death, right?"

Hagrid nodded, looking surprised she knew so much on the subject.

"It can, but anyone willin' ter kill a unicorn, I don' want ter meet."

Riley silently agreed.

The silence continued as they walked past a mossy tree stump. Riley could hear running water; there must be a stream somewhere close by. There were still spots of unicorn blood here and there along the winding path, but they were seeing the spots less and less.

"You all right, Hermione?" Hagrid whispered. Hermione was clutching onto Riley's cloak with one hand and her wand with the other. "Don' worry, it can't've gone far if it's this badly hurt, an' then we'll be able ter – GET BEHIND THAT TREE!"

Hagrid seized Riley and Hermione and hoisted them off the path behind a towering oak. He pulled out an arrow and fitted it into his crossbow, raising it, ready to fire. The three of them listened. Something was slithering over dead leaves nearby: it sounded like a cloak trailing along the ground. Hagrid was squinting up the dark path, but after a few seconds, the sound faded away.

"I knew it," he murmured. "There's summat in here that shouldn' be."

"But what? That didn't sound like any creature I know." Riley asked. Despite the fact that she was scared out of her wits, her curiosity overran any normal response.

"I donno. Didn' sound like anythin' I've ever seen in the forest before." said Hagrid grimly. "Right, follow me, but careful now."

They walked more slowly, ears straining for the faintest sound. Suddenly, in a clearing ahead, something definitely moved.

"Who's there?" Hagrid called. "Show yerself— I'm armed!"

And into the clearing came a centaur with red hair and beard, and a gleaming chestnut body with a long, reddish tail. Hermione's jaws dropped.

"Oh, it's you, Ronan." said Hagrid in relief. "How are yeh?"

He walked forward and shook the centaur's hand.

"Good evening to you, Hagrid." said Ronan. He had a deep, sorrowful voice. "Were you going to shoot me?"

"Can't be too careful, Ronan." said Hagrid, patting his crossbow. "There's summat bad loose in this forest. This is Riley Langley an' Hermione Granger, by the way. Students up at the school. An' this is Ronan, you two. He's a centaur."

"We'd noticed," said Hermione faintly the same time Riley smiled and said;

"We've met."

"Good evening, Riley." said Ronan. "I trust you're learning much, up at the school?"

"A bit." Riley replied grinning at the looks she was getting from Hermione and Hagrid.

"A bit. Well, that's something." Ronan sighed. He flung back his head and stared at the sky. "Mars is bright tonight."

"Yeah." said Hagrid, glancing up, too. "Listen, I'm glad we've run inter yeh, Ronan, 'cause there's a unicorn bin hurt— you seen anythin'?"

Ronan didn't answer immediately. He stared unblinkingly upward, and then sighed again.

"Always the innocent are the first victims." he said. "So it has been for ages past, so it is now."

"Yeah," said Hagrid. "But have yeh seen anythin', Ronan? Anythin' unusual?"

"Mars is bright tonight," Ronan repeated, while Hagrid watched him impatiently. "Unusually bright."

"Yeah, but I was meanin' anythin' unusual a bit nearer home. So yeh haven't noticed anythin' strange?"

Yet again, Ronan took a while to answer. At last, he said; "The forest hides many secrets."

Movements in the trees behind Ronan made Hagrid raise his bow again, but it was only a second centaur, black-haired and bodied and wilder-looking than Ronan.

"Hullo, Bane." said Hagrid. "All right?"

Riley waved. She didn't really like Bane. He was rather mean when it came to humans.

"Good evening Hagrid, Riley, I hope you two are well?"

"Well enough. Look, I've jus' bin askin' Ronan, you seen anythin' odd in here lately? There's a unicorn bin injured - would yeh know anythin' about it?"

Bane walked over to stand next to Ronan. He looked skyward. "Mars is bright tonight," he said simply.

"We've heard." said Hagrid grumpily. "Well, if either of you do see anythin', let me know, won't yeh? We'll be off, then."

"See ya!" Riley grinned. Helpful? They were not. Entertaining? Very.

Riley and Hermione followed Hagrid out of the clearing, Hermione staring over their shoulders at Ronan and Bane until the trees blocked their view.

"Never," said Hagrid irritably. "Try an' get a straight answer out of a centaur. Ruddy stargazers. Not interested in anythin' closer'n the moon."

"Yeah, but their really good at helping with Astronomy homework." Riley said absently.

"Are there many of them in here?" asked Hermione, deciding not to bother asking Riley how she knew them, or why they were helping her with homework.

"Oh, a fair few... Keep themselves to themselves mostly, but they're good enough about turnin' up if ever I want a word. They're deep, mind, centaurs... they know things... jus' don' let on much."

"D'you think that was a centaur we heard earlier?" Hermione asked.

"Did that sound like hooves to you? Nah, if yeh ask me, that was what's bin killin' the unicorns— never heard anythin' like it before."

They walked on through the dense, dark trees. Riley kept looking nervously over her shoulder. She had the nasty feeling they were being watched.

She was very glad they had Hagrid and his crossbow with them. She didn't know any good defense spells yet to keep them safe if something attacked.

They had just passed a bend in the path when Hermione grabbed Hagrid's arm. Something was coming towards them fast. Hagrid lifted his crossbow as it crashed through the bushes next to them. The something turned out to be a scared out of his mind Malfoy.

**~{}~**

Riley sighed as she looked into the fire.

After Malfoy had shown up he told them the thing that was killing the unicorns attacked him and Harry. Sending Malfoy back to the hut, Hagrid, Riley and Hermione ran to find Harry. They didn't get far, before they found him riding on Firenze— another, much nicer and easier to talk to centaur's back.

After making sure Harry was alright, Hagrid walked them all back to the castle. Where once they got to the common room and woke Ron, Harry exploded into a rant about how Voldemort was the one drinking the unicorns blood, how Snape was getting the Stone for him, and how Harry was suppose to die back their according to Ronan and Bane.

Hermione and Riley united for once in telling Harry that Voldemort wouldn't try anything while Dumbledore was here, and that he should go and tell Dumbledore everything. But Harry refused to believe them and said Dumbledore would never believe four first years over a teacher.

After awhile Riley and Hermione gave up trying to convince the 'bullheaded prat' as Riley was calling him. And now they were just sitting by the common room fire, lost in their own thoughts.

Suddenly Riley looked sharply at Harry. "You said you met Quirrell in Diagon Alley on your birthday, right?"

The other three looked at her confused.

"Yes. But what does th—"

Riley immediately stood up. She quickly gave some excuse to her friends, who still looked completely confused, and practically ran out the portrait hole.

She was going to see a man about a stone.

**~{}~**

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><p><strong>Review Please! and go check out that poll! :)<br>**


	15. Chapter 15 Let's Play Connect the Dots

_**A/N: Hey guys! So I'm sorry this wasn't posted earlier but** **the site wouldn't let me log in... Anyway, this is the next to last chapter! Ah! I'm sorry if it doesn't live up to the build up but I just couldn't seem to get it right. Also sorry for any mistakes, my beta didn't have time to go over it :( **_

_**A big thanks to everyone who has reviewed! you guys are AWESOME! :)**_

**_enjoy!_**

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><p><em>Chapter Fifteen: Let's Play Connect the Dots!<em>

The walk to Dumbledore's office seemed to take ages. Riley's mind was still so full of questions and facts and she knew one way or another she was _going_ to get her answers. She didn't care if it was going on three in the morning.

Quickly greeting the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to the headmaster's office, (She was so distracted she was surprised she didn't run into someone out patrolling.) Riley said the password and ran up the steps. She was barley able to keep herself from just barging in; instead she knocked three times and waited, like she had seen McGonagall do so many times before.

As soon as she heard her cue, she waltzed in and started to pace in front of the headmasters desk.

Dumbledore looked up surprised, and opened his mouth to greet Riley but she cut him off.

"I know who did it— or is going to do it anyway and I know it's going to be very soon. I also know you know who is going to do it, you just don't know when. So don't try to pull that 'I haven't a clue what you mean, Riley', Got it? I want answers— in fact I demand answers, just not in the no from." As Riley finished her little speech, she stopped pacing and stared unwaveringly at him.

Dumbledore stared back. After a moment he sighed and waved for her to sit. So she did.

"I can not promise that you will get every answer you desire, but I will do my best to answer what I can." He said in what Riley dubbed his Headmaster Voice.

"First I need to explain things; otherwise I won't be able to think straight."

Dumbledore nodded for her to continue, watching her with his piercing blue eyes in a way only Dumbledore can. Riley's lips twitched as she tried not to smile. "I've heard things over the year that got me thinking."

Riley decided not to mention Harry, Ron or Hermione in case they got in trouble for snooping. Riley didn't care if she got in trouble but after the dragon incident, she didn't want to get her friends in trouble again.

"During the first Quidditch match of the year, Snape was seen muttering a spell when Harry lost control of his broom. But it was never proven that he was muttering a curse. He could have very well been muttering the contercurse." Riley started pacing again, relieved to finally get all her thoughts out in the open. "Then Snape was heard interrogating Quirrell about what he knew and telling him to figure out where his loyalties lie. Then he was seen heading towards the third floor corridor, and later with a wound from Fluffy.

"Well, all of that could be taken two ways; Snape was either after the Stone… or protecting it. It also raised the question of why he was going after Quirrell. Obviously it couldn't be because Quirrell had put up a protection that Snape couldn't pass, that would just be a ridiculous assumption, after everything I heard about Snape from Remus.

"The other day, a friend heard Quirrell sobbing and then agreeing to something. But he never heard nor saw who was asking for the agreement. Then I remembered something Harry had mentioned in passing, he had met Quirrell in Diagon Alley on his birthday. The same day Gringotts was robbed. But he never saw Snape. It all fell into place after that…

"Quirrell had broken into Gringotts. Quirrell was sitting right behind Snape during the Quidditch game, so he could have heard Snape muttering a curse and as the Defense teacher, should have been saying the counter. He also should have gone to _you_, if he had heard Snape curse Harry. If he had, I highly doubt you would still let Snape work here.

"When the troll was let in, Snape was sitting at the teachers table, where as Quirrell was missing. And if Quirrell was the first one to see the troll, why didn't he fight it and send a ghost or something to alert the teachers and students? He also fainted in the Great Hall, so why wasn't he taken to the hospital wing? If he had been, Madam Pomfrey would never have let him leave so quickly. So the only logical explanation I could come up with was that _he_ let the troll in.

"Snape had been trying to find out how far Quirrell had gotten on finding out how to get past all the protection. Snape also said that stuff about his loyalties, because Quirrell isn't smart enough to come up with a plan like this on his own. He had to be working with someone.

"The last thing that tipped me off was Snape is _always by your side_. Quirrell is never around. So that's how I figured out who was trying to steal the stone. But that left the question of who was Quirrell working for?

"And that's where tonight's little adventure comes in. Hagrid told us that something that shouldn't be, was in the forest. That same thing was drinking unicorns' blood and only those truly desperate and scared of death would do that. So, there was only one person I could think of that would do something so disgusting… The person Quirrell was talking to the other night was _Voldemort_.

"_That's_ what I've figured it out… but most of it is just assumptions. It could very well be Snape and everything else just a coincidence, but I don't believe that for a second." Riley finished, taking the glass of water Dumbledore offered her. She knew she probably wouldn't be able to talk tomorrow, after such a long speech.

Dumbledore watched her for a few moments before smiling.

"You really are quite a clever girl." He said, eyes still twinkling. "You are correct on all accounts. I have had Professor Snape watching Quirrell as you so rightly guessed. We came to the same conclusion as you, I'm afraid. Voldemort is indeed hiding in the Forbidden Forest. I am astounded that you noticed so many things and were able to put them together like you have. It's really quite the accomplishment. You have the potential to be a great witch, but you are still a first year and it would be safer for you to go back to your common room and forget everything. I will be sure to take the proper actions."

Riley took a moment to gather her thoughts. She was right… about everything. She had never fully believed that Voldemort was gone for good. For one thing, they had never found a body or anything resembling a body. But to know that he was right now, walking around the forest… well, she was sure she wouldn't be sleeping well for a long time.

Finally, taking a deep breath Riley asked. "So that's what you expect me to do? Absolutely nothing?"

Dumbledore was quite for a moment, then he sighed and said; "Listen to some music, it can even sooth the soul of a ravage beast. Use some light to loosen the tension. Always have a buddy, because you never know when they might have the right answer. Make sure to plan out your next move, you never want to be surprised. And the answer is usually the last one you would expect."

There was silence for a moment while Riley thought over his words. Finally she nodded. "Thank you, Sir."

Dumbledore nodded in response looking at her over his half moon glasses. "Anything else you would like to know?"

Riley thought for a moment. "No, Sir."

"Then you may go. You have classes in the morning and it's late." Dumbledore dismissed her.

Riley stood slowly and made her way to the door, before she could walk out the door she heard a quite voice say.

"Good night, Riley."

"Good night, Professor." Riley replied with a smile.

**~{}~**

The days crept by, and Riley continued to dwell on Dumbledore's words. She knew there was more to them then met the eye, she just couldn't figure out what. She was frustrated at having Dumbledore brush her off like he did. But the rational side of her mind kept telling her he was right to do so. She _was _only a first year. The thoughts didn't help the disappointment, but she did at least understand why Dumbledore told her to forget about it.

While Riley was trying to figure out the meaning behind Dumbledore's words, Harry was freaking out. It was as if he was waiting for Voldemort to burst through the front door and kill him. Neville had let slip to Riley that Harry wasn't sleeping, and when he did he would toss and turn like mad.

In light of this news, Riley and Hermione found their common ground and surprisingly bonded over it. They agreed that Harry was not seeing the situation clearly, and it was up to them to make him see that. They spent hours trying to convince Harry that he was safe and that Dumbledore would do something if he wasn't. But he continued to be stubborn and not listen.

Ron wasn't any help either, seeing as he agreed with Harry and was only making Harry more nervous. Riley was sure Ron was going to have permanent brain damage from all the times she and Hermione had slapped him upside the head.

Unfortunately as the exams started, Hermione and Riley had to focus more on them then Harry's bullheadedness.

During the written test's, they were all given new quills with an Anti-Cheating Charm on them. Which Riley was happy to say, she wouldn't have needed as the written part wasn't too terribly difficult.

For the practical exams, Professor Flitwick called them all into the room, one by one to see if they could make a pineapple tap dance across the desk. While Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox— points were given for how pretty the box was, but taken away if it still had whiskers. Riley was happy to say that despite the fact that the box was still the same color as the mouse— including a little pink spot were the nose should have been, the box was still just that, a box.

Snape made most of them nervous by breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness potion. Riley did spectacularly, if she did say so herself. Yes, Hermione's was a little bluer then hers. But Riley knew she had come in a very close second.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said about Herbology. Somehow Riley ended up with a broken wrist and badly scratched face. She was sure she was going to fail, but Professor Sprout, in her ever lasting kindness, told Riley that she did what she was told and did it well enough for a passing grade despite how hurt she got along the way.

Their final exam was History of Magic. Riley knew she failed that. She was always getting names and dates mixed up, and at some point she got so frustrated she wrote something utterly ridiculous as the answer to a question; _why do I need to know the dates? As long as we know what and why it happened why does it matter?_ She knew she got at least a low passing grade on all her other exams, so she didn't care about failing that one.

Finally it was over. Cheering loudly with the others, Riley, Ron, Harry and Hermione walked out onto the grounds and sat under their favorite beech tree.

As Hermione went through the exam again, Riley watched Lee, Fred and George tickle the Giant Squid. Sighing Riley said her friends she'd see them later and made her way over to the three pranksters.

As soon as the boys saw her approaching, they went silent and walked to meet Riley half way down the dock.

_That's good, right?_ Riley thought desperately. _That means they want to talk too, right?_

"Hello boys!" Riley greeted with a slightly forced smile. They didn't reply; they just stared at her.

"Alright, alright." Riley sighed. "_I get it._ You're angry. But you were the one's who turned your back on _me_. All I did was lose some points while helping a friend, and you lot ignored me. You barley even acknowledged I was there. If you think I'm going to apologize for what I did, you're surly mistaken. You deserved what you got. I came over here to call a truce and put all this behind us. But if that's not what you want, then too bad for you."

Riley looked each of them straight in the eye and didn't like what she saw. After a few moments she sighed and undid the charms on their clothes. She knew the charms were mostly faded by now, but she figured it would be a show of good faith to just take them off.

Slowly Riley put her wand away and decided to leave the three troublemakers with one last thing before she left.

"I tried. I said my part, and you did nothing. I'm not going to wait around for you guys to apologize, because I know you won't. But if you want to put this behind you too… well, you know where to find me… or maybe you don't…" she added the last part as an after thought, and watched them flinch at the implications.

Riley shook her head sadly and walked back to the castle. She spent the rest of the day wandering around, trying to organize her thoughts. So much had happened these past few weeks, let alone the past year. She felt like her head was going to explode from all the things going on.

Riley didn't get back to the common room until late that night. All she wanted to do was just go to sleep, but that thought was immediately erased from her mind the moment she saw Neville lying on the ground, stiff as a bored.

At first she freaked out thinking Neville was dead. But then Riley heard him make a noise and realized he was just paralyzed by a spell. Quickly Riley tried a few counter-curses until at last, she got the right one.

"What happened, Neville? Who did this to you? I am so going to beat them." As she said this Neville shook his head frantically.

"It was Hermione."

"What?"

Neville hurriedly explained how he knew the trio was going to break the rules again and he didn't want to lose more points. So he stood up to them and told them he wouldn't let them leave. Then Hermione apologized and cursed him. He had been laying there for about an hour before Riley found him.

Riley's mind went into overdrive, what were they doing? She couldn't leave them for five minutes before they went and got themselves in trouble.

Then it hit Riley. Harry had been acting strange all day, complaining about his scar hurting and how he thought it meant there was danger. Riley knew he only needed the flimsiest of excuses to go after the Stone himself if he thought it was in danger.

With that in mind Riley ran up to her dorm, grabbed her wand and then hesitated. Dumbledore's words coming to mind; _always have a buddy because you never know when they might have the right answer. _

Nodding to herself, Riley walked back to her bed and grabbed Elephant before bolting for the door. She could hear Neville calling after her as she left the common room, but she didn't have time to explain.

Quickly and silently, Riley ran through all the short cuts and secret passages she knew of until she found herself outside Fluffy's door.

Riley opened the door as quietly as she could and desperately looked around for anything to calm the giant dog down. Like a giant dog bone, or maybe a really big rubber ball. She spotted a harp and a little wooden flute lying on the ground and her mind recalled another piece of advice; _Listen to some music, it can even sooth the soul of a ravage beast._

_Music! That's how you calm it._ Riley thought triumphantly. Then she frowned; she was a terrible singer and she couldn't get to the flute or the harp.

Riley only paused for a moment more before shrugging and deciding it didn't matter. Quickly she started singing the first song that popped into her head, which to her amusement was a lullaby.

Cautiously, Riley tiptoed over to the trap door, never taking her eyes off the dog as it snuffled and snored. She lifted the door open— flinching when it squeaked, and dropped down into the hole praying she didn't break anything or squish Elephant at the bottom.

As soon as she hit the bottom, she noticed something was off. _Why would there be a soft landing? Isn't this supposed to keep thieves out? _Then she heard a squeak and sighed in relief. _Good I didn't squish Elephant. _Riley's thought were cut short when she noticed something start to wrap around her legs and chest. Riley tried to move but what she thought were vines, only squeezed tighter.

_Use the light to loosen the tension. _Dumbledore's words once again floated to the front of her mind. _OK. Let's give it a try, shall we?_ Riley wiggled her hand out of the vines as best she could. Quickly, before the vines could wrap around her neck, Riley gasped out; "Incendio!"

The vines around her loosened as part of the plant caught fire. Riley jumped up, gasping for air and ran for the next room, not daring to stay near the plant longer then necessary.

In the next room, Riley could see keys with wings flying around and a couple of brooms leaning on the wall. There was a door across from where she entered, but it was locked.

Riley grimaced at the brooms; she was worse at flying then she was at singing. She looked up hopefully at the keys and smiled incredulously at her luck. The wing's on the key she was looking for were damaged, so it wasn't flying very well.

Riley pulled Elephant out of her pocket and hoping her luck wouldn't run out; she asked the shape-shifting mouse to catch the key. Surprisingly, Elephant understood and turned into a little dragon (which she had noticed was his favorite form) and caught the key in his claws. Riley thanked him and then told him to go back to her dorm. She didn't want him to get hurt.

As Riley walked into the next chamber, she was momentarily amazed at the giant chess set before her, but a cry brought her attention else where.

"Riley!"

She looked over to see Hermione helping a badly beaten Ron off the ground.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked apparently curiosity won over concern.

"Saving you lot." Riley replied looking around for Harry. "Or at least, that was the plan…"

"Harry's already gone ahead to face Snape! You have to take Ron to the hospital wing and get help. I'll go help Harry as much as I can."

Riley immediately shot that plan down. "No. No offense Hermione, but you look like crap. I'll go help Harry, you take Ron."

Hermione nodded, looking slightly relieved. But before Riley could rush off again, Hermione told her about the potions and the riddle, telling her which one to drink to get through. Riley quickly thanked her and left.

Riley knew she wouldn't stand a chance against Voldemort. But Harry was her friend, and she wasn't about to let someone else she was close to die.

_Hold on, Harry. I'm coming._

**~{}~**

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><p><em><strong>So there it is. I hope you all liked it. Next chapter should be up by next Friday, so make sure to look for it. Also, don't forget to check out my poll! Review!<br>**_


	16. Chapter 16 Loose Ends? I Think Knot!

_**A/N: Hello! Please don't hate me guy's. I'm so sorry this has taken so long, it's been an insane couple weeks. But anyways, here it is! The last chapter of the first book! I'm sorry if it's not very good. I struggled through a lot of it, and I think it shows. But I hope you enjoy anyways. Again sorry for any mistakes.**_

_**Don't forget to check out the A/N at the bottom. Enjoy!**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Harry Potter like. It all belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

><p><em>Chapter Sixteen: Loose Ends? I Think Knot.<em>

Every time Riley would look back on what happened next, she would smack herself for being so stupid. But not once would she truly regret it.

Waking up in the hospital wing a day later with a splitting headache and some very sore ribs, was defiantly not on her list of _Things That Were Suppose to Happen While Trying to Save Harry._

It took a few moments for Riley to register her surroundings. Then she remembered what had happened.

**~{}~**

Riley had gotten to Harry while Quirrell was indulging himself on a nice long monologue about how he did it, why he did it, and how he was going to use Harry to get it.

"I'm going to kill you, Harry Potter." He said menacingly.

Of course Riley just couldn't keep her mouth shut. And although her brain was freaking out and screaming at her to shut up, her mouth seemed not to agree.

"I'd really rather you didn't." she commented surprisingly calm for how much she was freaking out on the inside. "You see, I'm rather fond of him and killing him would put me in a really bad mood."

Quirrell scowled at the girl.

"And you think you can stop me?'

Riley laughed humorlessly. "Nah, but I can delay you."

After that it got rather confusing. Riley attempted to hex him, dodge his curses, and tell Harry to run for it all at once. But just as she opened her mouth to tell Harry to go, she was hit with one of Quirrell's curses, sending her tumbling down the stone steps and into unconsciousness.

The last thing she remembered thinking was; _well, that worked out dandy._

**~{}~**

Riley had woken up a day later to find Harry in a coma and the Stone to be destroyed. While she was happy Harry was alive, she couldn't help but feel responsible for Harry being in a coma. She went down there to protect him but instead, got knocked out a few minutes after arriving.

Riley didn't have much time to dwell on her guilt though, because a few hours after she woke, Remus arrived.

**~{}~**

"What were you thinking Riley?" Remus demanded after making sure she was alright.

Riley raised an eyebrow at him. "I was thinking 'oh no, Harry's in trouble and I need to help him.'… What do you want me to say, Moony?"

"I don't know _what_ I want you to say!" Remus growled trying not to yell. "I just want you to be safe. Why can't you understand that I can't lose you, Riley! You mean too much to me. I've already lost you once; I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I lost you again!"

Riley stared at him shocked. She knew Remus cared for her, but she also always saw the pain in his eyes when he looked at her. So Riley assumed Remus did what he did out of the duty of being her godfather. He was still her favorite person, but she never realized how much he really _did_ care.

"I'm sorry..." Riley was never very good at expressing her feelings and now wasn't any different. "I'm sorry I put you through so much pain... You're... You mean a lot to me too. Just ask my friends I never shut up about you."

Remus smiled and hugged her to him tightly. "I love you Riley. Whether you like it or not, you're like the daughter I'll never have."

Riley paused; shocked at what he said. Then she laughed and whispered just loud enough for him to hear. "I love you too."

**~{}~**

Riley was brought out of a nap two days later, by the sound of voices behind the curtain. Madam Pomfrey still hadn't let her go, and since there was nothing better to do; Riley slept.

"I see you are not to be distracted." She heard the very familiar voice of Dumbledore say. "Very well, the Stone. Professor Quirrell did not manage to take it from you. I arrived in time to prevent that, although you were doing very well on your own, I must say."

"You got there? You got Hermione's owl?" The voice Riley now recognized as Harry's asked.

"We must have crossed in midair. No sooner had I reached London than it became clear to me that the place I should be was the one I had just left. I arrived just in time to pull Quirrell off you."

"It was you."

"I feared I might be too late."

"You nearly were, I couldn't have kept him off the Stone much longer –"

"Not the Stone, boy, you — the effort involved nearly killed you. For one terrible moment there, I was afraid it had. As for the Stone, it has been destroyed."

"Destroyed?" said Harry blankly. "But your friend — Nicolas Flamel —"

"Oh, you know about Nicolas?" said Dumbledore, sounding quite delighted. "You did do the thing properly, didn't you?" Riley snorted. _Only Dumbledore._ "Well, Nicolas and I have had a little chat, and agreed it's all for the best."

"But that means he and his wife will die, won't they?"

"They have enough Elixir stored to set their affairs in order and then, yes, they will die."

It was quite for a moment. _That's really rather brave of them._ Riley thought. _Though, after living that long they must really be tired. No one should live forever; it's unnatural._

"To one as young as you, I'm sure it seems incredible." Dumbledore continued after a moment. "But to Nicolas and Perenelle, it really is like going to bed after a very, very long day. After all, to the well-organized mind; death is but the next great adventure. You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all — the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them."

Riley lay there, smiling a bit as she heard Dumbledore start to hum in the silence. She wondered if he was like her and hated silence.

"Sir?" said Harry. "I've been thinking… sir — even if the Stone's gone, Vol- I mean, You-Know-Who —"

"Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."

"Yes, sir. Well, Voldemort's going to try other ways of coming back, isn't he? I mean, he hasn't gone, has he?"

"No, Harry, he has not. He is still out there somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to share… not being truly alive, he cannot be killed. He left Quirrell to die; he shows just as little mercy to his followers as his enemies. Nevertheless, Harry, while you may only have delayed his return to power, it will merely take someone else who is prepared to fight what seems a losing battle next time — and if he is delayed again, and again, why, he may never return to power."

Harry paused then said, "Sir, there are some other things I'd like to know, if you can tell me… things I want to know the truth about…"

"The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution. However, I shall answer your questions unless I have a very good reason not to, in which case I beg you'll forgive me. I shall not, of course, lie."

"Well… Voldemort said that he only killed my mother because she tried to stop him from killing me. But why would he want to kill me in the first place?"

Riley almost gasped in shock. _What? When was this?_

_Probably while you were busy sleeping on the job. _A mean little voice in the back of her head said.

Dumbledore sighed very deeply this time.

"Alas, the first thing you ask me, I cannot tell you. Not today. Not now. You will know one day… put it from your mind for now, Harry. When you are older… I know you hate to hear this… when you are ready, you will know."

Riley's eyes narrowed. _What are you hiding old man?_

"But why couldn't Quirrell touch me?"

"Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign… to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed, and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good."

Riley stared blankly at the ceiling. Was that true? Did her mother and step-father leave her protected, too? Riley hadn't _really_ thought of her parents in a long time. It brought back too many painful memories.

She was brought out of her daze when Harry asked, "And the invisibility cloak — do you know who sent it to me?"

"Ah — your father happened to leave it in my possession, and I thought you might like it." Riley just _knew_ Dumbledore's eyes were doing that twinkling thing. "Useful things… your father used it mainly for sneaking off to the kitchens to steal food when he was here."

"And there's something else…"

"Fire away."

"Quirrell said Snape —"

"Professor Snape, Harry."

"Yes, him — Quirrell said he hates me because he hated my father. Is that true?"

"Well, they did rather detest each other. Not unlike yourself and Mr. Malfoy. And then, your father did something Snape could never forgive."

"What?"

"He saved his life."

"What?"

"Yes…" said Dumbledore dreamily. "Funny, the way people's minds work, isn't it? Professor Snape couldn't bear being in your father's debt… I do believe he worked so hard to protect you this year because he felt that would make him and your father even. Then he could go back to hating your father's memory in peace…"

_Oh…_ Riley smiled. _That kind of made sense in a weird way._

"And sir, there's one more thing…"

"Just the one?" Was that amusement Riley heard in Dumbledore's voice?

"How did I get the Stone out of the mirror?"

"Ah, now, I'm glad you asked me that. It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that's saying something." Riley had to fight not to giggle. "You see, only one who wanted to find the Stone — find it, but not use it — would be able to get it, otherwise they'd just see themselves making gold or drinking Elixir of Life. My brain surprises even me sometimes… Now, enough questions. I suggest you make a start on these sweets. Ah! Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans! I was unfortunate enough in my youth to come across a vomit flavored one, and since then I'm afraid I've rather lost my liking for them — but I think I'll be safe with a nice toffee, don't you?"

After a moment Riley heard him choke and say, "Alas! Ear wax!"

Riley was sure she cracked a rib trying not to laugh. Just as she was calming down from her fit of giggles, Dumbledore opened the curtain around her bed and sat down next to her.

Riley grinned at him sheepishly, knowing she was caught. "Hello, Professor. How are you on this fine afternoon?"

Dumbledore chuckled, his eyes still doing that infernal twinkling. "Very well. You gave us all a good scare."

"Oh… yeah… you don't happen to know what Quirrell hit me with do you?" Riley questioned. No one had told her yet. It was really quite irritating.

"I believe Madam Pomfrey said it was a stunning spell. She believes the only reason you were knocked out so long, was because of the tumble you took down the steps."

Riley nodded. That would explain the aches and bruises.

They sat in silence for a moment before Riley finally asked something that had been bothering her.

"You knew I would go down there anyway, didn't you?"

Dumbledore sighed and nodded. "I did. I had hoped you would not. But I knew you were not one to sit around and do nothing if your friends were in danger."

"You gave me those clues." It wasn't a question. Riley finally understood what his advice had meant. "_Listen to some music, it can even sooth the soul of a ravage beast._ That was how to calm Fluffy, by using music. _Use some light to loosen the tension._ That was how I was supposed to get the Devil's Snare to release me. _Always have a buddy, because you never know when they might have the right answer._ You knew I would need Elephant, since I'm such an awful flier. _Make sure to plan out your next move, you never want to be surprised._ That was for the chess set. But I didn't need that since Ron had already beaten it. _And the answer is usually the last one you would expect. _That was for the riddle, but Hermione told me which one to drink. You knew all along…"

Dumbledore just smiled serenely. Riley shook her head, the man was either a genius or totally insane.

Dumbledore stuck around for a little while longer chatting with Riley and Harry, until Madam Pomfrey shooed him out.

Harry told Riley everything that happened with Quirrell. How Quirrell explained that he had done everything the trio suspected Snape of doing, why he did those things, and who he did those things for. Then Harry told her about Voldemort being on the back of Quirrell's head the whole time and Riley knew she was going to be having nightmares for awhile. Later that day Ron and Hermione came in and Harry told them the story too.

Ron shook his head at Riley, when she told them her side.

"You didn't last very long."

Riley glared at him. "Lasted longer then you though, didn't I?"

Ron huffed, but kept silent causing Riley to smirk triumphantly. _Yeah, I still got it._

**~{}~**

At last, Riley was released from the prison— sorry, hospital wing later that day. So she happily bid Harry good luck on dealing with the warden, and made her way to the Gryffindor common room. Before she got there though, she was pulled into an empty classroom.

Fred, George and Lee all watched her with worry, as she sighed and sat down on top of a desk.

"So?"

"So… What?" Fred asked thoroughly confused.

"I'm still waiting for that apology."

"You're kidding right?" George asked incredulously.

Riley's eyes turned cold.

"No, I'm not kidding. I asked for a truce, you declined. Now it's back to you giving me an apology."

The three boy's looked at each other and sighed.

"Fine. We're sorry—"

"Wait." Riley interrupted; a horribly mischievous gleam in her eyes now. "I think some groveling is in order, don't you?"

The three boys glared, but got on their knees and clasped their hands anyway.

"We're sorry we turned on you. We were stupid, and cruel. We don't deserve the title of being a good friend. Will you forgive us?" Lee finished with wary glance at the twins.

Riley grinned. "Good enough."

Fred looked at her shrewdly. "You just wanted to see us grovel, didn't you?"

Riley's grin grew wider. "Got it on tape and everything."

The three boy's groaned. Why did they want to be friends with her again?

**~{}~**

After much debate, Madam Pomfrey let Harry go to the end-of-year feast. So Riley decided to meet up with him on her way towards the Great Hall.

"Thanks." Harry said after a bit of silence.

Riley looked at him confused. "For what?"

Harry's face went a brilliant shade of pink. "For trying to protect me. I know you didn't have too."

Riley smiled at him. "Harry your one of my best friends. There's no way I'd let you do something that stupid by yourself. My family means more to me then you know. And whether you like it or not, you've become part of my family."

Harry smiled back at her. He always wondered what it would be like to have a sister.

**~{}~**

For the most part the end-of-year feast was uneventful. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville all got enough points to win the House Cup. Riley wasn't jealous or disappointed that she didn't get any points. She knew Dumbledore was proud of her.

She _was _surprised though, when McGonagall came up to her as she was leaving and stated that even though she had said Riley was the Bane of Her Existence, she was still proud of the girl.

When the exam results came, Riley was happy to say she had rather high marks and even though she got a D in History of Magic, her other marks had her in the top ten for highest grades in her year. Hermione of course got the number one spot, and Riley was pleased to see Harry, Ron and Neville didn't do too badly either.

**~{}~**

When the day came to leave, Riley got the shock of her life. The carriages that were taking the kids to the Hogsmead train station were being pulled by skeletal reptilian horses with wings. Riley asked Hermione what they were, but she told Riley there was nothing pulling the carriages.

Riley was saved from freaking out when Ron's older brother Percy, assured her that the horses she was seeing were called Thestrals, and only those who have seen death could see them. Riley quickly made her way into the carriage after that; not wanting to be asked who she'd seen die.

The quartet and the twins found a compartment on the train together, and played Exploding Snap and chess to pass the time. When they finally got to platform 9 ¾ Fred and George whisked Riley off to meet their mum, dad and little sister.

Mrs. Weasley was a nice woman; she seemed to be a very good mother, but Riley thought she was a bit too hard on the twins.

Mr. Weasley was great. He seemed to take to Riley immediately and Ginny, the youngest and only daughter was sweet, Riley liked her.

But soon Andromeda showed up with Ted and Riley said a quick good-bye to everyone. Giving Harry an extra hug, Riley promised him she would find a way to get him away from the horrible muggles he had told her about.

Getting into the old, beat up car that Ted loved so much, Riley smiled. It had been a very interesting and crazy year… and she couldn't wait for the next one.

**The End.**

* * *

><p><strong>I just want to say thank you to all my wonderful reviewers. You guys kept me going when I started to lose my momentum. And thank you everyone who Alerted and Favorited. You guys all rock! I really hope this story did it's job and made you laugh till you couldn't laugh any more.<strong>

** I'm not sure when the next book will be up, but I'll be sure to let you all know when it is. Thank you so much everyone.**

**Ta ta for now,**

**Fox  
><strong>


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